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MEMOIRS 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN; 



WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 



MOST INTERESTING ESSAYS, LETTERS, AND MISCELLA- 
NEOUS WRITINGS ; FAMILIAR, MORAL, POLITICAL, 
ECONOMICAL, AND PHILOSOPHICAL. 

SELECTED WITH CARE 

PROM ALL HIS PUBLISHED PRODUCTIONS, AND COMPRISING 

WHATEVER IS MOST ENTERTAINING AND VALUABLE 

TO THE GENERAL READER. 



IN T WO VOLUMES. 
VOL. I. 



NEW-YORK: 

HARPER St BROTHERS, 82 CLIFF. STREET. 
183 9. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1839, by 

Harper & Brothers, 

In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York. 



Gift from 
Mfss Alice H. Bttshaa 
^an. 6,1932 



MAR 2 1944 



I 



publishers' advertisement. 



It would be difficult, and perhaps impossible, to 
gather from the history and labours of any individ- 
ual mind, a summary of practical wisdom as rich 
in varied instruction as the memoirs and writings 
presented in these volumes will be found to af- 
ford. If, .on account of the most distinguished 
public services, the name of Franklin has become 
inseparably associated with his country's glory, 
the works which he has left behind him no less 
justly entitle him to be considered as the benefactor 
not only of his own country, but of mankind for 
all coming time. So admirable, indeed, are these 
productions, that they can only cease being read 
when the love of beauty and of simplicity, of moral 
power and of truth, has no longer a place in the 
hearts of men. 

« This self-taught American," to quote from the 
Edinburgh Review of 1806, " is the most rational, 
perhJips, of all philosophers. He never loses sight 



Vlll PUBLISHERS ADVERTISEMENT. 

of common sense in any of his speculations. No 
individual, perhaps, ever possessed a juster under- 
standing, or was so seldom obstructed in the use 
of it by indolence, enthusiasm, or authority. * * * * 
There are not many among the thoroughbred 
scholars and philosophers of Europe who can lay 
claim to distinction in more than one or two depart- 
ments of science and literature. The uneducated 
tradesman of America has left writings which call 
for our attention in natural philosophy, in politics, 
in political economy, and in general literature and 
morality." And again: "Nothing can be more 
perfectly and beautifully adapted to its object than 
most of the moral compositions of Dr. FrankHn. 
The tone of familiarity, of good-will, and harmless 
jocularity ; the plain and pointed illustrations ; the 
short sentences, made up of short words ; and the 
strong sense, clear information, and obvious convic- 
tion of the author himself, make most of his moral 
exhortations perfect models of popular eloquence, 
and often the finest specimens of a style which 
has been too little cultivated in his native country. 
" The most remarkable thing, however, in these, 
and indeed in the whole of his physical specula- 
tions, is the unparalleled simplicity and facility with 
which the reader is conducted from one stage of 
the inquiry to another. The author never appears 
for a moment to labour or be at a loss. The 



PUBLISHERS' ADVERTISEMENT. ix 

most ingenious and profound explanations are 
suggested, as if they were the most natural and 
obvious way of accounting for the phenomena; 
and the author seems to value himself so little on 
his most important discoveries, that it is necessary 
to compare him with others before we can form a 
just notion of his merits." 

While to every age these volumes cannot fail 
of being deeply interesting, to the young more 
especially they may be made of invaluable use. 
What an animating example do they present of 
the power of industry, and of frugality and tem- 
perance, of moral rectitude, and unremitting per- 
severance, to overcome every difficulty ! And 
what youth, fired with the generous love of 
knowledge, and an ardent desire of honourable 
distinction, need ever despair of success after 
reading the memoirs of Benjamin Franklin ; who, 
from the humble station of a printer's apprentice, 
without fortune or other extraneous aid, through a 
manly confidence in his own powers, elevated him- 
self to the highest stations of honour and useful- 
ness. 

It is from these and other considerations scarcely 
less interesting, that the publishers feel great con- 
fidence and pleasure in presenting this work to the 
public favour. Great care has been taken in se- 
lecting the matter of which these volumes are com. 



X publishers' advertisement. 

posed ; and, it is believed, that they will be foiind to 
comprise nearly all that is most entertaining and 
useful to the general reader, in the writings of 
Franklin. 

H. & B. 

New-York, Sept., 1839. 



CONTENTS 

OF 

THE FIRST VOLUME. 



PART I. 

Page 
Life of Dr. Franklin, written by himself . . • .13 

PART II. 

Letter from Mr. Abel James 91 

Letter from Mr. Benjamin Vaughan 92 

Continuation of Life, begun at Passy, near Paris, 1784 . 98 
Memorandum 115 



PART in. 

Life of Franklin, continued by Dr. Stuber . . . .191 
Extracts from Franklin's Will 227 

WRITINGS OP JRANKLIN. 

The Examination of Dr. Franklin before the British House 
of Commons, relative to the Repeal of the American 
Stamp-act 237 

Narrative of the Massacre of Friendly Indians in Lancaster 
County, Pennsylvania, 1764 264 

Introduction to Historical Review of the Constitution and 
Government of Pennsylvania 282 

Dr. Franklm's Motion for Prayers in the Convention at 
Philadelphia, 1787, to revise the then existing Articles of 
Confederation . • 286 



MEMOIRS OF FRANKLIN. 



PART I. 



To William Franklin, Esq., Governor of New Jersey. 

Twyford, at the Bishop of St. Asaph's,* 1771. 
Dear Son, — I have ever had a pleasure in obtain- 
ing any little anecdotes of my ancestors. You 
may remember the inquiries I made among the re- 
mains of my relations when you were with me in 
England, and the journey I undertook for that pur- 
pose. Imagining it may be equally agreeable to 
you to learn the circumstances of mi/ life, many of 
which you are unacquainted with, and expecting the 
enjoyment of a few weeks' uninterrupted leisure, I 
sit down to write them. Besides, there are some 
other inducements that excite me to this underta- 
king. From the poverty and obscurity in which I 
was born, and in which I passed my earliest years, 
I have raised myself to a state of affluence and 
some degree of celebrity in the world. As constant 
good fortune has accompanied me even to an ad- 
vanced period of life, my posterity will perhaps be 
desirous of learning the means which I employed, 
and which, thanks to Providence, so well succeeded 
with me. They may also deem them fit to be imi- 
tated, should any of them find themselves in similar 
circumstances. This good fortune, when I reflect 
on it, which is frequently the case, has induced me 
sometimes to say, that if it were left to my choice, 
1 should have no objection to go over the same life 

* Dr. Shipley. 
Vol. I.— 2 



14 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

from its beginning to the end : requesting only the 
advantage authors have, of correcting in a second 
edition the faults of the first. So would I also wish 
to change some incidents of it for others more fa- 
vourable. Notwithstanding, if this condition was 
denied, I should still accept the offer of recom- 
mencing the same life. But as this repetition is 
not to be expected, that which resembles most liv- 
ing one's life over again, seems to be to recall all 
the circumstances of it ; and, to render this remem- 
brance more durable, to record them in writing. In 
thus employing myself I shall yield to the inclina- 
tion so natural to old men, of talking of themselves 
and their own auctions; and I shall indulge it with- 
out being tiresome to those who, from respect to 
my age, might conceive themselves obliged to lis- 
ten to me, since they will be always free to read me 
or not. And lastly (I may as well confess it, as 
the denial of it would be believed by nobody), I 
shall perhaps not a little gratify my own vanity. 
Indeed, I never heard or saw the introductory 
words " Without vanity I may say," &c., but some 
vain thing immediately followed. Most people dis- 
like vanity in others, whatever share they have of 
it themselves ; but I give it fair quarter, wherever I 
meet with it, being persuaded that it is often pro- 
ductive of good to the possessor, and to others who 
are within his sphere of action : and therefore, in 
many cases, it would not be altogether absurd if a 
man were to thank God for his vanity among the 
other comforts of life. 

And now 1 speak of thanking God, I desire with 
all humility to acknowledge that I attribute the 
mentioned happiness of my past life to his divine 
providence, which led me to the means I used and 
gave the success. My belief of this induces me to 
hope, though I must not presume, that the same 
goodness will still be exercised towards me, in con- 
tinuing that happiness or enabling me to bear a fa- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 15 

tal reverse, which I may experience as others have 
done ; the complexion of my future fortune being 
known to him only, in whose power it is to bless 
us, even in our afflictions. 

Some notes, one of my uncles (who had the same 
curiosity in collecting family anecdotes) once put 
into my hands, furnished me with several particu- 
lars relative to our ancestors. From these notes I 
learned that they lived in the same village, Ecton, 
in Northamptonshire, on a freehold of about thirty 
acres, for at least three hundred years, and how 
much longer could not be ascertained.* 

This small estate would not have sufficed for their 



* Perhaps from the time when the name of Franklin, 
which before was the name of an order of people, was assumed 
by them for a surname, when others look surnames all over the 
kingdom. 

As a proof that Franklin was anciently the common name of 
an order or rank in England, see Judge Fortescue, De laudibus 
Legum Angli(B, written about the year 1412, in which is the fol- 
lowing passage, to show that good juries might easily be formed 
in any part of England : 

" Regio etiam ilia, ita respersa re^exiz.q\\eesi possessoribus ter- 
rarum et agrorum, quod in ea, villula tam parva reperiri non po- 
terit, mqua non est miles, armigcr, vel pater-familias, qualis ibi- 
dem Frankleri vulganter nuncupatur, magnisditatus possessioni- 
bus, nee non libere tenentes et alii valecti plurimi, suis patrimo- 
niis sufficientes, ad faciendum juratam, in forma praenotata. 

"Moreover, the same country is so filled and replenished 
with landed menne, that therein so small a thorpe cannot be 
found wherem dweleth not a knight, an esquire, or such a 
householder as is there commonly called a Franklin, enriched 
with great possessions ; and also other freeholders and many 
yeomen, able for their livelihoodes to make a jury in form afore- 
mentioned." — Old Translation. 

Chaurer, too, calls his country-gentleman a Franklin ; and 
after describing his good housekeeping, thus characterizes him: 
" This worthy Franklin bore a purse of silk 
Fix'd to his girdle, white as morning milk ; 
Knight of the shire, first justice at th' assize, 
To help the poor, the doubtful to advise. 
In all employments, generous, just he proved, 
Eenown'd for courtesy, by all beloved," 



16 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

maintenance without the business of a smith, which 
had continued in the family down to my uncle's 
time, the eldest son being always brought up to that 
employment; a custom which he and my father 
followed with regard to their eldest sons. When I 
searched the registers at Ecton, I found an account 
of their marriages and burials from the year 1555 
only, as the registers kept did not commence pre- 
vious thereto. 1 however learned from it that I 
was the youngest son of the youngest son for five 
generations back. My grandfather Thomas, who 
was born 1598, lived at Ecton till he was too old to 
continue his business, when he retired to Banbury 
in Oxfordshire, to the house of his son John, with 
whom my father served an apprenticeship. There 
my uncle died and lies buried. We saw his grave- 
stone in 1758. His eldest son Thomas lived in the 
house at p]cton, and left it with the land to his only 
daughter, who, with her husband, one Fisher, of 
W^ellingborough, sold it to Mr. Isted, now lord of 
the manor there. My grandfather had four sons, 
who grew up: viz., Thomas, John, Benjamin, and 
Josiah. Being at a distance from my papers, I will 
give you what account I can of them from memory : 
and if my papers are not lost in my absence, you 
will find among them many more particulars.* 

* Copy of an original letter, found among Dr. Franklin's papers, 
from Josiah to B. Franklin. 

Boston, May 26, 1739. 
Loving Son,— As to the original of our name there is various 
opinions; some say that it came from a sort of title of which 
a book, that you bought when here, gives a lively account. 
Some think we are of a French extract, which was formerly 
called Franks; some of a free line ; a line free from that vas- 
salage which was common to subjects in days of old ; some 
from a bird of long red legs. Your uncle Benjamin made m- 
quiry of one skilled in heraldry, who told him there is two coats 
of armour, one belonging to the Franklins of the north, and one 
to the Franklins of the west. However, our circumstances 
have been such as that it hath hardly been worth while to con- 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 17 

Thomas, my eldest uncle, was bred a smith under 
his father ; but, being ingenious, and encouraged in 
learning (as ail my brothers were) by an Esquire 

cern ourselves much about these things, any farther than to 
ticlile the fancy a hule. 

The firsi that I can give account of is my great grandfather, 
as it was a custom m those days among young men too many 
times to goe to seek, their fortune, and m his travels he went 
upon iikmg to a taylor ; but he kept such a stingy house, that he 
left him and travelled farther, and came to a smith's house, and 
coming on a fasting day, being in popish times, he did not like 
there the first day ; the next morning the servant was called up 
at five in the morning, but alter a little time came a good toast 
and good beer, and he found good housekeeping there ; he 
served and learned the trade of a smith. 

In Queen Mary's days, either his wife, or my grandmother by 
father's side, informed my father triat they kept their Bible fast- 
ened under the top of a jomt-stool that they might turn up the 
book and read in the Bible ; that, when anybody came to the dore, 
they turned up the stool for fear ot the apparitor ; for if it was 
discovered they would be in hazard of tlieir lives. My grand- 
father was a smith also, and settled at Ecton, in Northampton- 
shire, and he was imprisoned a year and a day on suspicion of 
fais being the author of some poetry that touched the character 
of some great man. He had only one son and one daughter; 
my grandlaiher's name was Henry, my father's name was Thom- 
as, my mother's name was Jane. My father was born at Ec- 
ton or Eton, iNorthamplonshire, on the 18th of Uctober, 1598; 
married to Miss Jane White, niece to Coll White, of Banbury, 
and died in the 84th year of his age. There was nine children 
of us who were happy in our parents, who took great care by 
their instructions and pious example to breed us up in a reli- 
gious way. My eldest brother had but one child, which was 
married to one Mr. Fisher, at Wallingborough, in Northampton- 
shire. The town was lately burned down, and whether she 
was a sufferer or not 1 cannot tell, or whether she be living or 
not. Her father died worth fifteen hundred pounds, but what 
her circumstances are now 1 know not. She hath no child. 
If you by the freedom of your office, makes it more likely to 
convey a letter to her, it would be acceptable to me. There is 
also children of brother John and sister Morris, but I hear no- 
thing from them, and they write not to me, so that I know not 

where to find them. 1 have been agam to about seeing 

but have missed of being informed. We received yours, and are 
glad to hear poor Jammy is recovered so well. Son John re- 
ceived the letter, but is so busy just now that he cannot write 
2* 



18 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

Palmer, then the principal inhabitant of that parish, 
he qualified himself for the bar, and became a con- 
siderable man in the county ; was chief mover of 
all public-spiriied enterprises for the county or 
town of Northampton, as well as of his own village, 
of which many instances were related of him : and 
he was much taken notice of, and patronised by- 
Lord Halifax. He died in 1702, the 6ih of January ; 
four years to a day before 1 was born. The recital 
■which some elderly persons made to us of his char- 
acter, I remember, struck you as something extra- 
ordinary, from its similarity with what you knew 
of me. •' Had he died," said you, " four years later, 
on the same day, one might have supposed a trans- 
migration." John, my next uncle, was bred a dyer, 
I believe of wool. Benjamin was bred a silk dyer, 
serving an apprenticeship in London. He was an 
ingenious man. I remember, when 1 was a boy, he 
came to my father's in Boston, and resided in the 
house with us for several years. There was al- 
ways a particular affection between my father and 
him, and I was his godson. He lived to a great 
age. He left behind him two quarto volumes of 
manuscript, of his own poetry, consisting of fugitive 
pieces addressed to his friends. He had invented 
a shorthand of his own, which he taught me, but, 
not having practised it, I have now forgotten it. 
He was very pious, and an assiduous attendant at 
the sermons of the best preachers, which he re- 
duced to writing according to his method, and had 
thus collected several volumes of them. He was 
also a good deal of a politician; too much so, per- 
haps, for his station. There fell lately into my 
hands in London, a collection he made of all the 
principal political pamphlets relating to public af- 
fairs, from the year 1641 to 1717; many of the vol- 

you an answer, but will do the best he can. Now with hearty 
love to, and prayer for you all, I rest your affectionate father, 

JOSIAH f KAN KLIN. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 1$ 

unies are wanting, as appears by their numbering, 
but there still remain eight volumes in folio, and 
twenty in quarto and in octavo. A dealer in old 
books had met with them, and knowing me by 
name, having bought books of him, he brought them 
to me. It would appear that my uncle must have 
left them here when he went to America, which 
was about fifty years ago. I found several of his 
notes in the margins. His grandson, Samuel Frank- 
lin, is still living in Boston. 

Our humble family early embraced the reformed 
religion. Our forefathers continued Protestants 
through the reign of Mary, when they were some- 
times in danger of persecution on account of their 
zeal against popery. They had an English Bible, 
and to conceal it, and place it in safety, it was fast- 
ened open with tapes under and within the cover of 
a joint-stool. When my great-grandfather wished 
to read it to his family, he placed the joint-stool on 
his knees, and then turned over the leaves under the 
tapes. One of the children stood at the door to 
give notice if he saw the apparitor coming, who was 
an officer of the spiritual court. In that case the 
stool was turned down again upon its feet, when the 
Bible remained concealed under it as before. This 
anecdote I had from uncle Benjamin, The family 
continued all of the Church of England till about the 
end of Charles the Second's reign, when some of 
the ministers that had been outed for their noncon- 
formity holding conventicles in Northamptonshire, 
my uncle Benjamin and father Josiah adhered to 
them, and so continued all their lives : the rest of 
the family remained with the Episcopal church. 

Mv father married young, and carried his wife 
with three children to New-England, about 1682. 
The conventicles being at that time forbidden by law, 
and frequently disturbed in theii meetings, some 
considerable men of his acquaintance determined 
to go to that country, and he was prevailed with to 



20 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

accompany them thither, where they expected to 
enjoy the exercise of their religion with freedom. 
By the same wife my father had four children more 
born there, and by a second wife ten others, in all 
seventeen; of which I remember to have seen thir- 
teen sitting together at his table, who all grew up 
to years of maturity, and were married ; I was the 
youngest son, and the youngest of all except two 
daughters. I was born in Boston, in New-England. 
My mother, the second wife of my father, was 
Abiah Folger, daughter of Peter Folger, one of the 
first settlers of New-England, of whom honourable 
mention is made by Cotton Mather, in his ecclesias- 
tical history of the country, entitled Magnolia Christi 
Americana, as " a goodly and learned Englishman," 
if I remember the words rightly. I was informed 
he wrote several small occasional works, but only 
one of them was printed, which I remember to have 
seen several years since. It was written in 1675. 
It was in famihar verse, according to the taste of 
the times and people, and addressed to the govern- 
ment there. It asserts the liberty of conscience, in 
behalf of the Anabaptists, the Quakers, and other 
sectarians that had been persecuted. He attributes 
to this persecution the Indian wars, and other ca- 
lamities that had befallen the country; regarding 
them as so many judgments of God, to punish so 
heinous an offence, so contrary to charity. This 
piece appeared to me as written with manly free- 
dom and a pleasing simplicity. The last six hues 
I remember, but have forgotten the preceding ones 
of the stanza ; the purpose of them was, that his 
censures proceeded from good-will, and, therefore, 
he would be known to be the author. 

" Because to be a libeller (said he) 
I hate it with my heart ; 

From Sherburne* town, where now I dwell, 
My name 1 do put here ; 

* Sherburne, in the island of Nantucket. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. S} 

Without offence your real friend, 
It is Peter Folgier." 

My elder brothers were all put apprentices to dif- 
ferent trades. I was put to the grammar-school at 
eight years of age; my father intended to devote 
me, as the tithe of his sons, to the service of the 
church. My early readiness in learning to read 
(which must have been very early, and 1 do not re- 
member when 1 could not read), and the opinion of 
all my friends, that I should certainly make a good 
scholar, encouraged him in this purpose of his. My 
uncle Benjamin, too, approved of it, and proposed 
to give me his shorthand volumes of sermons to set 
up with, if I would learn shortiiand. 

I continued, however, at the grammar-school 
rather less than a year, though in that imie 1 had 
risen gradually from the middle of the class of that 
year to be at the head of the same class, and was 
removed into the next class, whence I was to be 
placed in the third at the end of the year. But my 
father, burdened with a numerous family, was un- 
able, without inconvenience, to support the expense 
of a college education ; considering, moreover, as 
he said to one of his friends in my presence, the 
little encouragement that line of life afforded to 
those educated for it, he gave up his first intentions, 
took me from the grammar-school, and sent me to 
a school for writing and arithmetic, kept by a then 
famous man, Mr. George Brownwell. He was a 
skilful master, and successful in his profession, em- 
ploying the mildest and most encouraging methods. 
Under him I learned to write a good hand pretty 
soon, but failed entirely in arithmetic. At ten years 
old 1 was taken to help my father in his business of 
a tallow-chandler and soap-boiler, a business to 
which he was not bred, but had assumed on his ar- 
rival in New-England, because he found that his 
dying trade, being in little request, would not main- 
tain his family. Accordingly, 1 was employed in 



22 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

cutting the wick for the candles, filling the moulds 
for cast candles, attending the shop, going of er- 
rands, &c. 

I disliked the trade, and had a strong inclination 
to go to sea, but my father declared against it ; but, 
residing near the water, I was much in it and on it. 
I learned to swim well, and to manage boats ; and 
when embarked with other boys, 1 was commonly 
allowed to govern, especially in any case of diffi- 
culty ; and upon other occasions I was generally the 
leader among the boys, and sometimes led them 
into scrapes, of which I will mention an instance, 
as it shows an early projecting public spirit, though 
not then justly conducted. 

There was a salt-marsh which bounded part of 
the millpond, on tne edge of which, at high water, 
we used to stand to fish for minnows; by much 
trampling, we had made it a mere quagmire. My 
proposal was to build a wharf there for us to stand 
upon, and 1 showed my comrades a large heap of 
stones, which were intended for a new house near 
the marsh, and which would very well suit our pur- 
pose. Accordingly, in the evening, when the work- 
men were gone home, I assembled a number of my 
playfellows, and we worked diligently like so many 
emmets, sometimes two or three to a stone, till we 
had brought them all to make our little wharf. The 
next morning the workmen were surprised on miss- 
ing the stones which formed our wharf ; inquiry was 
made after the authors of this transfer ; we were 
discovered, complained of, and corrected by our 
fathers ; and though I demonstrated the utility of 
our work, mine convinced me that that which was 
not truly honest could not be truly useful. 

I suppose you may like to know what kind of a 
man my father was. He had an excellent constitu- 
tion, was of a middle stature, well set, and very 
strong: he could draw prettily, was a little skilled 
in music ; his voice was sonorous and agreeable, so 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. S3 

that when he played on his violin and sung withal, 
as he was accustomed to do after the business of 
the day was over, it was extremely agreeable to 
hear. He had some knowledge of mechanics, and, 
on occasion, was very handy with other tradesmen's 
tools ; but his great excellence was his sound un- 
derstanding and sohd judgment in prudential mat- 
ters, both in private and pubHc affairs. It is true, he 
was never employed in the latter, the numerous 
family he had to educate and the strictness of his 
circumstances keeping him close to his trade : but 
I remember well his being frequently visited by lead- 
ing men, who consulted him for his opinion in pub- 
lic affairs, and those of the church he belonged to, 
and who showed great respect for his judgment and 
advice: he was also much consulted by private per- 
sons about their affairs when any difficulty occur- 
red, and frequently chosen an arbitrator between 
contending parties. At his table he liked to have, 
as often as he could, some sensible friend or neigh^ 
hour to converse with, and always took care to start 
some ingenious or useful topic for discourse, which 
might tend to improve the minds of his children. 
By this means he turned our attention to what was 
good, just, and prudent in the conduct of Hfe ; and 
little or no notice was ever taken of what related to 
the victuals on the table, whether it was well or ill 
dressed, in or out of season, of good or bad flavour, 
preferable or inferior to this or that other thing of 
the kind, so that 1 w^as brought up in such a perfect 
inattention to those matters as to be quite indiffer- 
ent as to what kind of food was set before me. In- 
deed, I am so unobservant of it, that to this day I 
can scarce teU a few hours after dinner of what 
dishes it consisted. This has been a great conve- 
nience to me in travelling, where my companions 
have been sometimes very unhappy for want of a 
suitable gratification of their more delicate, because 
better instructed, tastes and appetites. 



34 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

My mother had hkewise an excellent constitu- 
tion : she suckled all her ten children. I never knew 
either my father or mother to have any sickness but 
that of which they died, he at 89, and she at 85 years 
of age. They lie buried together at Boston, where 
I some years since placed a marble over their grave, 
with this inscription : 

JosiAH Franklin, 
and 
Abiah, his wife, 
lie here interred. 
They lived lovingly together in wedlock 
fifty -five years. 
And without an estate, or any gainful employment. 
By constant labour and honest industry, 
maintained a large family comfortably, 
and brought up thirteen children and seven grand- 
children respectably. 
From this instance, reader, 
Be encouraged to diligence in ihy calling, 
And distrust not Providence. 
He was a pious and prudent man ; 
She a discreet and virtuous woman. 
Their youngest son, 
In filial regard to their memory, 
Places this stone. 
J. F. born 1655, died 1744, ^tas 89. 
A. F. 1667, 1752, 85. 

By my rambling digressions, I perceive myself to 
be grown old 1 used to write more methodically. 
But one does not dress for private company as for 
a public ball. Perhaps it is only negligence. 

To return : I continued thus employed in my fa- 
ther's business for two years, that is, till I was twelve 
years old ; and my brother John, who was bred to 
that business, having left my father, married and set 
up for himself at Rhode Island, there was every ap- 
pearance that 1 was destined to supply his place, 
and become a tallow-chandler. But my dislike to 
the trade continuing, my father had apprehensions 
that if he did not put me to one more agreeable, I 
should break loose and go to sea, as my brother 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 25 

Josiah had done to his great vexation. In conse- 
quence, he took me to walk with him, and see join- 
ers, bricklayers, turners, braziers, «&c., at their 
work, that he might observe my inclination, and 
endeavour to fix it on some trade or profession that 
would keep me on land. It has ever since been a 
pleasure to me to see good workmen handle their 
tools ; and it has been often useful to me to have 
learned so much by it as to be able to do some trifling 
jobs in the house when a workman was not at hand, 
and to construct httle machines for my experiments, 
at the moment when the intention of making thern 
was warm in my mind. My father determined at 
last for the cutlers' trade, and placed me for some 
days on trial with Samuel, son to my uncle Ben- 
jamin, who was bred to that trade in London, and 
had just established himself in Boston. But the 
sum he exacted as a fee for my apprenticeship dis- 
pleased my father, and I was taken home again. 
From my infancy I was passionately fond of read- 
ing, and all the money that came into my hands 
was laid out in the purchasing of books. I was 
very fond of voyages. My first acquisition was 
Bunyan's works in separate little volumes. I after- 
ward sold them to enable me to buy R. BurtorCs 
Historical Collections; they w^ere small chapmen's 
books, and cheap, 40 volumes in all. My father's 
little library consisted chiefly of books in polemic 
divinity, most of which I read. I have often regret- 
ted that, at a time when I had such a thirst for 
knowledge, more proper books had not fallen into 
my way, since it was resolved I should not be bred 
to divinity ; there was among them Plutarch's Lives, 
which I read abundantly, and I still think that time 
spent to great advantage. There was also a book of 
De Foe's, called an Essay on Projects^ and another 
of Dr. Mather's, called an Essay to do good, which 
perhaps gave me a turn of thinking that had an in* 
Vol. I — 3 



86 LITE OF FRANKLIN. 

fluence on some of the principal future events of 
my life. 

This bookish inclination at length determined my 
father to make me a printer, though he had already 
one son (James) of that profession. In 1717 my 
brother James returned from England with a press 
and letters to set up his business in Boston. I liked 
it much better than that of my father, but still had a 
hankering for the sea. To prevent the apprehended 
effect of such an inclination, my father was impa- 
tient to have me bound to my brother. I stood out 
some time, but at last was persuaded, and signed 
the indentures when I was yet but twelve years old. 
I was to serve as an apprentice till I was twenty- 
one years of age, only 1 was to be allowed journey- 
man's wages during the last year. In a little time 
I made a great progress in the business, and became 
a useful hand to my brother. 1 had now access to 
better books. An acquaintance with the appren- 
tices of booksellers enabled me sometimes to bor- 
row a small one, which I was careful to return soon 
and clean. Often I sat up in my chamber the great- 
est part of the night, when the book was borrowed 
in the evening to be returned in the morning, lest it 
should be found missing. After some time a mer- 
chant, an ingenious, sensible man, Mr. Matthew 
Adams, who had a pretty collection of books, fre- 
quented our printing-office, took notice of me, and 
invited me to see his library, and very kindly pro- 
posed to lend me such books as I chose to read. I 
now took a strong inclination for poetry, and wrote 
some little pieces ; my brother, supposing it might 
turn to account, encouraged me, and induced me to 
compose two occasional ballads. One was called 
the Lighthouse Tragedy, and contained an account 
of the shipwreck of Captain Worthilake, with his 
two daughters : the other was a sailor's song, on the 
taking of the famous Teach (or Blackbeard) the pi- 
rate. They were wretched stuff, in street-ballad 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 27 

Style ; and when they were printed, my brother 
sent me about the town to sell them. The first sold 
prodigiously, the event being recent, and having 
made a great noise. This success flattered my 
vanity ; but my father discouraged me, by criticising 
my performances, and telling me verse-makers were 
generally beggars. Thus I escaped being a poet, 
and probably a very bad one : but as prose writing 
has been of great use to me in the course of my 
life, and was a principal means of my advancement, 
1 shall tell you how, in such a situation, 1 acquired 
what little ability 1 may be supposed to have in that 
way. 

There was another bookish lad in the town, John 
Collins by name, with whom I was intimately ac- 
quainted. We sometimes disputed, and very fond 
we were of argument, and very desirous of con- 
futing one another, which disputatious turn, by-the- 
way, IS apt to become a very bad habit, making peo- 
ple often extremely disagreeable in company, by the 
contradiction that is necessary to bring it into prac- 
tice; and thence, besides souring and spoiling the 
conversation, it is productive of disgusts and, per- 
haps, enmities with those who may have occasion 
for friendship. I had caught this by reading my fa- 
ther's books of disputes on religion. Persons of 
good sense, I have since observed, seldom fall into 
it, except lawyers, university men, and, generally, 
men of all sorts who have been bred at Edinburgh. 
A question was once some how or other started, 
between CoUins and me, on the propriety of educa- 
ting the female sex in learning, and their abilities for 
study. He was of opinion that it was improper, 
and that they were naturally unequal to it. I took 
the contrary side, perhaps for dispute' sake. He 
was naturally more eloquent, having a greater plenty 
of words; and sometimes, as I thought, I was van- 
quished more by his fluency than by the strength 
of his reasons. As we parted without setthng the 



28 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

point, and were not to see one another again for 
some time, I sat down to put my arguments in 
writing, which I copied fair and sent to him. He 
answered, and I replied. Three or four letters on 
a side had passed, when my father happened to find 
my papers and read them. Without entering into 
the subject in dispute, he took occasion to talk to 
me about my manner of writing; observed that, 
though 1 had the advantage of my antagonist in 
correct spelling and pointing (which he attributed 
to the printing-house), 1 fell far short in elegance 
of expression, in meihod, and perspicuity, of which 
he convinced me by several instances. I saw the 
justice of his remarks, and thence grew more at- 
tentive to my manner of writing, and determined to 
endeavour to improve my style. 

About this time I met with an odd volume of the 
Spectator. I had never before seen any of them. 
I bought it, read it over and over, and was much de- 
lighted with it. I thought the writing excellent, 
and wished, if possible, to imitate it. With that view 
I took some of the papers, and, making short hints 
of the sentiments in each sentence, laid them by a 
few days, and then, without looking at the book, 
tried to complete the papers again, by expressing 
each hinted sentiment at length and as fully as it 
had been expressed before in any suitable words 
that should occur to me. Then I compared my 
Spectator with an original, discovered some of my 
faults, and corrected them. But I found I wanted a 
stock of words, or a readiness in recollecting and 
using them, which I thought I should have acquired 
before that time if I had gone on making verses; 
since the continual search for words of the same 
import, but of different lengths, to suit the measure, 
or of different sounds for the rhyme, would have 
laid me under a constant necessity of searching for 
variety, and also have tended to fix that variety in 
my mind, and make me master of it. Therefore I 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. S9 

took some of the tales in the Spectator, and turned 
them into verse : and after a time, when I had 
pretty \#e11 forgotten the prose, turned them back 
again. I also sometimes jumbled my collection of 
hints into confusion, and after some weeks endeav- 
oured to reduce them into the best order, before I 
began to form the full sentences and complete the 
subject. This was to teach me method in the ar- 
rangement of the thoughts. By comparing my 
work with the original, 1 discovered many faults 
and corrected them ; but I sometimes had the pleas- 
ure to fancy that, in particulars of small conse- 
quence, I had been fortunate enough to improve the 
method or the language, and this encouraged me to 
think that I might in time come to be a tolerable 
English writer, of which 1 was extremely ambitious. 
The time I allotted for writing exercises and for 
reading was at night, or before work began in the 
morning, or on Sunday, when I contrived to be in 
the printing-house, avoiding as much as I could the 
constant attendance at public worship which my 
father used to exact from me when I was under his 
care, and which I still continued to consider as a 
duty, though I could not afford time to practise it. 

When about sixteen years of age 1 happened to 
meet with another book, written by one Tryon, 
recommending a vegetable diet, I determined to 
go into it. My brother, being yet unmarried, did not 
keep house, but boarded himself and his appren- 
tices in another family. My refusing to eat flesh 
occasioned an inconvenience, and I was frequently 
chid for my singularity. I made myself acquainted 
with Tryon's manner of preparing some of his 
dishes, such as boiling potatoes or rice, making hasty 
pudding, and a few others, and then proposed to my 
brother if he would give me, weekly, half the 
money he paid for my board, I would board myself. 
He instantly agreed to it, and I presently found that 
I could save half what he paid me. 



30 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

This was an additional fund for buying of books. 
But I had another advantage in it. My brother and 
the rest going from the printing-office to their meals, 
I remained there alone ; and despatching presently 
my light repast, which was often no more than jbi 
biscuit, or a slice of bread and a handful of raisins, 
a tart from the pastry-cook's, and a glass of water, 
I had the rest of the lime till their return for study, 
in which I made the greater progress, from that 
clearness of head and quick apprehension which 
generally attends temperance in eating and drink- 
ing. 

Now it was that, being on some occasion made 
ashamed of my ignorance in figures, which I had 
twice failed learning when at school, I took Cocker's 
book on arithmetic, and went through the whole 
by myself with the greatest ease. 1 also read Sel- 
lers and Sturny's book on navigation, which made 
me acquainted with the little geometry it contained ; 
but I never proceeded far in that science. 1 read 
about this time Locke on the Human Understanding ^ 
and the Art of Thinking, by Messrs. du Port Royal. 

While I was intent on improving my language, I 
met with an English grammar (I think it was Green- 
wood's) having at the end of it two little sketches 
on the arts of rhetoric and logic, the latter finishing 
with a dispute in the Socratic method ; and soon 
after I procured Xenophon's Memorable Things of 
Socrates, wherein there are many examples of the 
same method. I was charmed by it, adopted it, 
dropped my abrupt contradiction and positive ar- 
gumentation, and put on the humble inquirer; and 
being then, from reading Shaftesbury and Collins^ 
made a doubter, as I already was in many points 
of our religious doctrines, I found this method the 
safest for myself and very embarrassing to those 
against whom I used it ; therefore I took delight in 
it. practised it continually, and grew very artful and 
expert in drawing people, even of superior knowl- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 31 

edge, into concessions, the consequences of which 
they did not foresee ; entanghng them in difficulties, 
out of which they could not extricate themselves, 
and so obtaining victories that neither myself nor 
my cause always deserved. I continued this meth- 
od some few years, but gradually left it, retaining 
only the habit of expressing myself in terms of mod- 
est diffidence ; never using, when 1 advanced any- 
thing that might possibly be disputed, the word cer- 
tainly^ undoubtedly^ or any other that gave the air of 
positiveness to an opinion ; but rather said, I conceive 
or apprehend a thing to be so and so ; it appears to 
me, or I should not think it is so, for such and such 
reasons ; or I imagine it to be so ; or it is so, if I am 
not mistaken. This habit, I believe, has been of 
great advantage to me when I have had occasion 
to inculcate my opinions, and persuade men into 
measures that I have been from time to time en- 
gaged in promoting ; and, as the chief ends of con- 
versation are to inform or to be informed, to please 
or to persuade, I wish well-meaning and Sensible 
men would not lessen their power of doing good by 
a positive, assuming manner, that seldom fails to 
disgust, tends to create opposition, and to defeat 
most of those purposes for which speech was given 
to us. 

In fact, if you wish to instruct others, a positive 
and dogmatical manner in advancing your senti- 
ments may occasion opposition and prevent a can- 
did attention. If you desire improvement from 
others, you should not, at the same time, express 
yourself fixed in your present opinions ; modest and 
sensible men, who do not love disputations, will leave 
you undisturbed in the possession of your errors. 
In adopting such a manner, you can seldom expect 
to please your hearers, or obtain the concurrence 
you desire. Pope judiciously observes, 

" Men must be taught as if you taught them not, 
And things unknown proposed as things forge*.'* 



32 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

He also recommends it to us, 

" To speak, though sure, with seeming diffidence." 

And he might have joined with this line that which 
he has coupled with another, I think, less properly. 

" For want of modesty is want of sense." 

If you ask why less properly, I must repeat the 
lines, 

*' Immodest words admit of no defence, 
For want of modesty is want of sense." 

Now is not the want of sense (where a man is so 
unfortunate as to want it) some apology for his want 
of modesty ? and would not the lines stand more 
justly thus 1 

*' Immodest words admit but this defence, 
That want of modesty is want of sense." 

This, however, I should submit to better judgments. 

My brother had, in 1720 or 21, began to print a 
newspaper. It was the second that appeared in 
America, and was called the New-England Courant. 
The only one before it was the Boston News-Letter. 
I remember his being dissuaded by some of his 
friends from the undertaking, as not likely to suc- 
ceed, one newspaper being, in their judgment, enough 
for America. At this time (1771) there are not 
less than five-and-lwenty * He went on, however, 
with the undertaking ; I was employed to carry the 
papers to the customers, after having worked in 
composing the types and printing off the sheets. 
He had some ingenious men among his friends, who 
amused themselves by writing little pieces for his 
paper, which gained it credit and made it more in 
demand, and these gentlemen often visited us. 

Hearing their conversations and their accounts 
of the approbation their papers were received with, 

♦ The number in 1817 exceeds 400. 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 33 

I was excited to try my hand among them ; but be- 
ing still a boy, and suspecting that my brother would 
object to printing anything of mine in his paper if 
he knew it to be mine, I contrived to disguise my 
hand, and, writing an anonymous paper, 1 put it at 
night under the door of the' printing-house. It was 
found in the morning, and committed to his writing 
friends when they called in as usual. They read 
it, commented on it in my hearing, and 1 had the 
exquisite pleasure of finding it had met with their 
approbation, and that, in their different guesses at 
the author, none were named but men of some char- 
acter among us for learning and ingenuity. I sup- 
pose that 1 was rather lucky in my judges, and they 
were not really so very good as I then believed 
them to be. 

Encouraged, however, by this attempt, I wrote 
and sent in the same way to the press several oth- 
er pieces that were equally approved ; and 1 kept 
my secret till all my fund of sense for such per- 
formances was exhausted, and then discovered it, 
when I began to be considered with a little more 
attention by my brother's acquaintance. How- 
ever, that did not quite please him, as he thought it 
tended to make me too vain. This might be one 
occasion of the differences we began to have about 
this time. Though a brother, he considered him- 
self as my master, and me as his apprentice, and, 
accordingly, expected the same services from me as 
he would from another, while 1 thought he degraded 
me too much in some he required of me, who 
from a brother required more indulgence. Our dis- 
putes were often brought before our father, and I 
fancy I was either generally in the right, or else a 
better pleader, because the judgment was generally 
in my favour. But my brother was passionate, and 
had often beaten me, which I took extremely amiss ; 
and thinking my apprenticeship very tedious, I was 
continually wishing, for some opportunity of short- 



34 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

ening it, which at length offered in a manner unex- 
pected. 

Perhaps the harsh and tyrannical treatment of me 
might be a means of impressing me with the aver- 
sion to arbitrary power that has stuck to me through 
my whole life. 

One of the pieces in our newspaper on some po- 
litical point, which I have now forgotten, gave of- 
fence to the Assembly. He was taken up, censured, 
and imprisoned for a month, by the speaker's war- 
rant, 1 suppose, because he would not discover the 
author. J, too, was taken up and examined before 
the council : but though I did not give them any 
satisfaction, they contented themselves with ad- 
monishing me, and dismissed me, considering me, 
perhaps, as an apprentice, who was bound to keep 
his master's secrets. 

During my brother's confinement, which I resent- 
ed a good deal notwithstanding our differences, I 
had the management of the paper; and I made 
bold to give our rulers some rubs in it, which my 
brother took very kindly, while others began to cbn- 
sider me in an unfavourable light, as a youth that 
had a turn for libelling and satire. My brother's 
discharge was accompanied with an order (and a 
very odd one), that "James Frankhn should no 
longer print the newspaper called the New-Eng- 
land Courant." 

On a consultation held in our printing-office among 
his friends, what he should do in this conjuncture, it 
was proposed to elude the order by changing the 
name of the paper ; but my brother, seeing incon- 
veniences in this, came to a conclusion, as a better 
way, to let the paper in future be printed in the name 
of Benjamin Franklin : and in order to avoid the 
censure of the Assembly, that might fall on him as 
still printing it by his apprentice, he contrived and 
consented that my old indenture should be returned 
to me, with a discharge on the. back of it, to show 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 35 

in case of necessity ; and, in order to secure to him 
the benefit of my service, I should sign new inden- 
tures for the remainder of my time, which was to 
be kept private. A very flimsy scheme it was ; how- 
ever, it was immediately executed, and the paper 
was printed, accordingly, under my name for sever- 
al months. At length, a fresh difference arising be- 
tween my brother and me, I took upon me to assert 
my freedom, presuming that he would not venture 
to produce the new indentures. It was not fair in 
me to take this advantage, and this I therefore reck- 
on as one of the first errata of my life ; but the un- 
fairness of it weighed httle with me, when under 
the impression of resentment for the blows his pas- 
sion too often urged him to bestow upon me ; though 
he was otherwise not an ill-natured man : perhaps I 
was too saucy and provoking. 

When he found I would leave him, he took care 
to prevent my getting employment in any other 
printing-house in town, hy going round and speak- 
ing to every master, who accordingly refused to 
give me work. I then thought of going to New- 
York, as the nearest place where there was a print- 
er ; and I was rather inclined to leave Boston, when 
I reflected that I had already made myself a httle 
obnoxious to the governing party, and. from the ar- 
bitrary proceednigs of the Assembly in my brother's 
case, it was likely I might, if I stayed, soon bring 
myself into scrapes ; and farther, that my indiscreet 
disputations about rehgion began to make me point- 
ed at with horror by good people, as an infidel or 
atheist. I concluded, therefore, to remove to New- 
York ; but my father now siding with my brother, 
I was sensible, that if 1 attempted to go openly, 
means would be used to prevent me. My friend 
Collins, therefore, undertook to manage my flight. 
He agreed with the captain of a New-York sloop 
to take me. I sold my books to raise a little money, 
was taken on board the sloop privately, had a fair 



36 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

wind, and in three days found myself at New-York, 
near three hundred miles from my home, at the age 
of seventeen, without the least recommendation 
or knowledge of any person in the place, and very 
little money in my pocket. 

The inclination I had felt for the sea was by this 
time done away, or I might now have gratified it. 
But having another profession, and conceiving my- 
self a pretty good workman, I offered my services 
to a printer of the place, old Mr. W. Bradford, who 
had been the first printer in Pennsylvania, but had 
removed thence, in consequence of a quarrel with 
the governor, General Keith. He could give me no 
employment, having little to do, and hands enough 
already. But he said, " My son, at Philadelphia, has 
lately lost his principal hand, Aquilla Rose, by death ; 
if you go thither, I believe he may employ you." 
Philadelphia was one hundred miles farther; I set 
out, however, in a boat for Amboy, leaving my chest 
and things to follow me round by sea. In crossing 
the bay we met with a squall that tore our rotten 
sails to pieces, prevented our getting into the kill, 
and drove us upon Long Island. In our way, a 
drunken Dutchman, who was a passenger too, fell 
overboard; when he was sinking, I reached through 
the water to his shock pate, and drew him up, so 
that we got him in again. His ducking sobered him 
a little, and he went to sleep, taking first out of his 
pocket a book which he desired I would dry for him. 
It proved to be my old favourite author, Bunyan's 
Pilgrirn's Progress, in Dutch, finely printed on good 
paper, copper cuts, a dress better than I had ever 
seen it wear in its own language. I have since 
found that it has been translated into most of the 
languages of Europe, and suppose it has been more 
generally read than any other book, except perhaps 
the Bible. Honest John was the first that I know 
of who mixed narration and dialogue ; a method 
of writing very engaging to the reader, who, in the 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 37 

most interesting parts, finds himself, as it were, ad- 
mitted into the company and present at the conver- 
sation. De Foe has imitated him successfully in his 
Robinson Crusoe, in his Moll Flanders, and other 
pieces ; and Richardson has done the same in his 
Pamela, &c. 

On approaching the island, we found it was in a 
place where there could be no landing, there being 
a great surf on the stony beach. So we dropped an- 
chor, and swung out our cable towards the shore. 
Some people came down to the shore and hallooed 
to us, as we did to them, but the wind was so high 
and the surf so loud that we could not understand 
each other. There were some small boats near the 
shore, and we made signs, and called to them to 
fetch us ; but they either did not comprehend us, or 
it was impracticable, so they went otf. Night ap- 
proaching, we had no remedy but to have patience 
till the wind abated, and, in the mean time, the boat- 
men and myself concluded to sleep if we could; 
and so we crowded into the hatches, where we join- 
ed the Dutchi^an, who was still wet, and the spray 
breaking over the head of our boat, leaked through 
to us, so that we were soon almost as wet as he. 
In this manner we lay all night with very little rest ; 
but the wind abating the next day, we made a shift 
to reach Amboy before night, having been thirty 
hours on the water, without victuals, or any drink 
but a bottle of tilthy rum, the water we sailed on 
being salt. 

In the evening I found myself very feverish, and 
went to bed; but having read somewhere that cold 
water drank plentifully was good for a fever, I fol- 
lowed the prescription, and sweat plentifully most 
of the night : my fever left me, and in the morning 
crossing the ferry, I proceeded on my journey on 
foot, having fifty miles to Burlington, where I was 
told I should find boats that would carry me the 
rest of the way to Philadelphia. 

VoL; 1.-4 



38 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

It rained very hard all the day ; I was thoroughly 
soaked, and by noon a good deal tired, so I stopped at 
a poor inn, where I stayed all night, beginning now 
to wish I had never left home. I made so misera- 
ble a figure too, that I found, by the questions asked 
me, I was suspected to be some runaway indentur- 
ed servant, and in danger of being taken up on that 
suspicion. However, I proceeded next day, and 
got in the evening to an inn within eight or ten 
miles of Burlington, kept by one Dr. Brown. He 
entered into conversation with me while I took 
some refreshment, and, finding I had read a little, 
became very obliging and friendly. Our acquaint- 
ance continued all the rest of his life. He had been, 
I imagine, an ambulatory quack doctor, for there 
was no town in England, or any country in Europe, 
of which he could not give a very particular ac- 
count. He had some letters, and was ingenious ; 
but he was an infidel, and wickedly undertook, some 
years after, to turn the Bible into doggerel verse, as 
Cotton had formerly done with Virgil. By this 
means he set many facts in a ridiculous light, and 
might have done mischief with weak minds if his 
work had been published ; but it never was. At his 
house I lay that night, and arrived the next morn- 
mg at Burhngton, but had the mortification to find 
that the regular boats had gone a little before, and 
no other expected to go before Tuesday, this being 
Saturday. Wherefore I returned to an old woman 
in the town, of whom I had bought some ginger- 
bread to eat on the water, and asked her advice ; 
she proposed to lodge me till a passage by some 
other boat occurred. I accepted her offer, being 
much fatigued by travelling on foot. Understand- 
ing I was a printer, she would have had me remain 
in that town and follow my business, being igno- 
rant what stock was necessary to begin with. She 
was very hospitable, gave me a dinner of ox-cheek 
with a great good-will, accepting only of a pot of 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 39 

ale in return ; and I thought myself fixed till Tues- 
day should come. However, walking in the even- 
ing by the side of the river, a boat came by which 
I found was going towards Philadelphia, with sever- 
al people in her. They took me in, and as there 
was no wind, we rowed all the way; and about 
midnight, not having yet seen the city, some of the 
company were confident we must have passed it, 
and would row no farther : the others knew not 
where we were, so we put towards the shore, got 
into a creek, landed near an old fence, with the rails 
of which we made a fire, the night being cold, in 
October, and there we remained till daylight. Then 
one of the company knew the place to be Cooper's 
Creek, a little above Philadelphia, which we saw as 
soon as we got out of the creek, and arrived there 
about eight or nine o'clock, on the Sunday morning, 
and landed at Market-street wharf. 

I have been the more particular in this description 
of my journey, and shall be so of my first entry 
into that city, that you may in your mind compare 
such unlikely beginnings with the figure I have 
since made there. I was in my working dress, my 
best clothes coming round by sea. I was dirty, 
from my being so long in the boat; my pockets 
were stuffed out with shirts and stockings, and I 
knew no one, nor where to look for lodging. Fa- 
tigued with walking, rowing, and the want of sleep, I 
was very hungry ; and my whole stock of cash con- 
sisted in a single dollar, and about a shilling in cop- 
per coin, which I gave to the boatmen for my pas- 
sage. At first they refused it on account of my 
having rowed, but I insisted on their taking it. Man 
is sometimes more generous when he has little mon- 
ey than when he has plenty ; perhaps to prevent 
his being thought to have but little. I walked to- 
wards the top of the street, gazing about, still in 
Market-street, where I met a boy with bread. I 
had often made a meal of dry bread, and inquiring 



40 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

where he had bought it, I went immediately to the 
baker's he directed me to. 1 asked for biscuits, 
rneaning such as we had at Boston : that sort, it 
seems, was not made in Philadelphia. I then asked 
for a threepenny loaf, and was told they had none. 
Not knowing the different prices, nor the names of 
the difterent sorts of bread, I told him to give me 
threepenny worth of any sort. He gave me, ac- 
cordingly, three great puffy rolls. 1 was surprised 
at the quantity, but took it, and having no room in 
my pockets, walked off with a roll under each arm, 
and eating the other. Thus I went up Market-street 
as far as Fourth-street, passing by the door of Mr. 
Read, my future wife's father ; when she, standing 
at the door, saw me, and thought I made, as I cer- 
tainly did, a most awkward, ridiculous appearance. 
Then I turned and went down Chestnut-street and 
part of Walnut-street, eating my roll all the way, and, 
coming round, found myself again at Market- street 
wharf, near the boat I came in, to which I went for 
a draught of the river water ; and, being filled with 
one of my rolls, gave the other two to a woman 
and her child that came down the river in the boat 
with us, and were waiting to go farther. Thus re- 
freshed, I walked again up the street, which by this 
time had many clean-dressed people in it, who were 
all walking the same way : I joined them, and there- 
by was led into the great meeting-house of the Qua- 
kers near the market. I sat down among them, 
and after looking round awhile, and hearing nothing 
said, being very drowsy, through labour and want 
of rest the preceding night, 1 fell fast asleep, and 
continued so till the meeting broke up, when some 
one was kind enough to rouse me. This, therefere, 
was the first house I was in, or slept in, in Phila- 
delphia. 

I then walked down towards the river, and look- 
ing in the faces of every one, 1 met a young Qua- 
ker man whose countenance pleased me, and, accost- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN, 41 

ing him, requested he would tell me where a stran- 
ger could get a lodging. We were then near the 
sign of the Three Mariners. " Here," said he, " is 
a house where they receive strangers, but it is not 
a reputable one ; if thou wilt walk with me, I'll show 
thee a better one ;" and he conducted me to the 
Crooked Billet in Water-street. There I got a din- 
ner ; and, while I was eating, several questions were 
asked me, as from my youth and appearance I was 
suspected of being a runaway. After dinner, my 
host having shown me to a bed, I lay myself on it, 
without undressing, and slept till six in the evening, 
when I was called to supper. I went to bed again 
very early, and slept very soundly till next morn- 
ing. Then I dressed myself as neat as I could, and 
went to Andrew Bradford, the printer's. 1 found in 
the shop the old man, his father, whom I had seen 
at New-York, and who, travelling on horseback, 
had got to Philadelphia before me. He introduced 
me to his son, who received me civilly, gave me a 
breakfast, and told me he did not at present want a 
hand, being lately supplied with one : but there was 
another printer in town lately set up, one Keimer, 
who perhaps might employ me ; if not, I should be 
welcome to lodge at his house, and he would give 
me a little work to do now and then, till fuller busi- 
ness should offer. 

The old gentleman said he would go with me to 
the new printer ; and when we found him, " Neigh- 
bour," said Bradford, " I have brought to see you a 
young man of your business ; perhaps you may want 
such a one." He asked me a few questions, put a 
composing stick in my hand to see how I worked, 
and then said he would employ me soon, though he 
had just then nothing for me to do ; and taking old 
Bradford, whom he had never seen before, to be one 
of the town's people that had a good will for him, 
entered into conversation on his present underta- 
king and prospects ; while Bradford (not discovering 
4* 



42 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

that he was the other printer's father), on Keimer's 
saying he expected soon to get the greatest part of 
the business into his own hands, drew him on by 
artful questions, and starting httle doubts, to ex- 
plain all his views, what influence he relied on, and 
in what manner he intended to proceed. I, who 
stood by and heard all, saw immediately that one 
was a crafty old sophister, and the other a true nov- 
ice. Bradford left me with Keimer, who was greatly 
surprised when I told him who the old man was. 

The printing-house, I found, consisted of an old 
damaged press, and a small worn-out fount of Eng- 
lish types which he was using himself, composing 
an elegy on Aquilla Rose, before mentioned ; an in- 
genious young man, of excellent character, much 
respected in the town, secretary to the Assembly, 
and a pretty poet. Keimer made verses too, but very 
indifferently. Re could not be said to write them, 
for his method was to compose them in the types di- 
rectly out of his head ; there being no copy, but 
one pair of cases, and the elegy probably requiring 
all the letter, no one could help him. I endeavour- 
ed to put his press (which he had not yet used, and 
of which he understood nothing) into order to be 
worked with ; and, promising to come and print off 
his elegy as soon as he should have got it ready, I 
returned to Bradford's, who gave me a little job to 
do for the present, and there I lodged and dieted. A 
few days after Keimer sent for me to print off the 
elegy. And now he had got another pair of cases, 
and a pamphlet to reprint, on which he set me to 
work. 

These two printers I found poorly qualified for 
their business. Bradford had been bred to it, and 
was very illiterate ; and Keimer, though something 
of a scholar, was a mere compositor, knowing no- 
thing of presswork. He had been one of the French 
prophets, and could act their enthusiastic agitations. 
At this time he did not profess any particular reli- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 43 

gion, but something of all on occasion; was very 
ignorant of the world, and had, as I afterward found, 
a good deal of the knave in his composition. He 
did not like my lodging at Bradford's while I worked 
with him. He had a house, indeed, but without fur- 
niture, so he could not lodge me ; but he got me a 
lodging at Mr. Read's, before mentioned, who was 
the owner of his house ; and my chest of clothes be- 
ing come by this time, I made rather a more respect- 
able appearance in the eyes of Miss Read than I 
had done when she first happened to see me eating 
my roll in the street. 

I began now to have some acquaintance among 
the young people of the town that were lovers of 
reading, with whom I spent my evenings very pleas- 
antly, and gained money by my industry and fru- 
gality. I lived very contented, and forgot Boston 
as much as I could, and did not wish it should be 
known where I resided, except to my friend Col- 
lins, who was in the secret, and kept it faithfully. 
At length, however, an incident happened that occa- 
sioned my return home much sooner than I had in- 
tended. I had a brother-in-law, Robert Holmes, 
master of a sloop that traded between Boston and 
Delaware. He being at Newcastle, forty miles be- 
low Philadelphia, and hearing of me, wrote me a 
letter, mentioning the grief of my relations and 
friends in Boston at my abrupt departure, assuring 
me of their good-will towards me, and that every- 
thing would be accommodated to my mind if I 
would return, to which he entreated me earnestly. 
I wrote an answer to his letter, thanking him for his 
advice, but stated my reasons for quitting Boston so 
fully, and in such a light, as to convince him that I 
was not so much in the wrong as he had appre- 
hended. 

Sir William Keith, governor of the province, was 
then at Newcastle, and Captain Holmes happening 
to be in company with him when my letter came to 



44 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

hand, spoke to him of me, and showed him the let- 
ter. The governor read it, and seemed surprised 
when he was told my age. He said I appeared a 
young man of promising parts, and, therefore, should 
be encouraged : the printers at Philadelphia were 
wretched ones, and if I would set up there, he made 
no doubt I should succeed ; for his part, he would 
procure me the public business, and do me every 
other service in his power. This my brother-in- 
law Holmes afterward told me in Boston, but I 
knew as yet nothing of it ; when one day, Keimer 
and 1 being at work together near the window, we 
saw the governor and another gentleman (who 
proved to be Colonel French, of Newcastle, in the 
province of Delaware), finely dressed, come directly 
across the street to our house, and heard them at the 
door. Keimer ran down immediatel)^ thinking it a 
visit to him ; but the governor inquired for me, came 
up, and, with a condescension and pohteness I had 
been quite unused to, made me many compliments, 
desired to be acquainted with me, blamed me kindly 
for not having made myself known to him when I 
first came to the place, and would have me away 
with him to the tavern, where he was going with 
Colonel French to taste, as he said, some excellent 
Madeira. I was not a little surprised, and Keimer 
stared with astonishment. I went, however, with 
the governor and Colonel French to a tavern at the 
corner of Third-street, and over the Madeira he 
proposed my setting up my business. He stated 
the probabilities of my success, and both he and 
Colonel French assured me I should have their in- 
terest and influence to obtain for me the public busi- 
ness of both governments. And as I expressed 
doubts that my father would assist me in it. Sir 
William said he would give me a letter to him, in 
wliich he would set forth the advantages, and he did 
not doubt lie should determine him to comply. Sq 
it was concluded I should return to Boston by the 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 45 

first vessel, with the governor's letter to my father. 
In the mean time it was to be kept a secret, and I 
went on working with Keimer as usual. The gov- 
ernor sent for me now and then to dine with him, 
which I considered a great honour, more particu- 
larly as he conversed with me in the most affable, 
famihar, and friendly manner. 

About the end of April, 1724, a little vessel offered 
for Boston. I took leave of Keimer as going to see 
my friends. The governor gave me an ample let- 
ter, saying many flattering things of me to my father, 
and strongly recommending the project of my set- 
ting up at Philadelphia, as a thing that would make 
my fortune. We struck on a shoal in going down 
the bay, and sprung aleak ; we had a bkistering 
time at sea, and were obliged to pump almost con- 
tinually, at which I took my turn. We arrived safe, 
however, at Boston, in about a fortnight. I had 
been absent seven months, and my friends had heard 
nothing of me ; for my brother Holmes was not yet 
returned, and had not written about me. My unex- 
pected appearance surprised the family; all were, 
however, very glad to see me, and made me wel- 
come, except my brother : I went to see him at his 
printing-house. I was better dressed than ever 
while in his service, having a genteel new suit from 
head to foot, a watch, and my pockets hned with 
near five pounds sterling in silver. He received me 
not very frankly, looked me all over, and turned to 
his work again. The journeymen were inquisitive 
where I had been, what sort of a country it was, and 
how I liked it. I praised it much, and the happy 
life I led in it, expressing strongly my intention 
of returning to it; and one of them asking what 
kind of money we had there, I produced a handful 
of silver and spread it before them, which was 
a kind of raree-show they had not been used to, 
paper being the money of Boston. Then I took 
an opportunity of letting them see my watch ; and, 



46 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

lastly (my brother still grum and sullen), gave them 
a dollar to drink and took my leave. This visit of 
mine offended him extremely. For when my mother 
some time after spoke to him of a reconciliation, and 
of her wish to see us on good terms together, and 
that we might live for the future as brothers, he 
said I had insulted him in such a manner before his 
people, that he could never forget or forgive it. In 
this, however, he was mistaken. 

My father received the governor's letter with 
some surprise, but said little of it to me for some 
time. Captain Holmes returning, he showed it to 
him, and asked him if he knew Sir William Keith, 
and what kind of a man he was ; adding, that he 
must be of small discretion to think of setting a 
youth up in business who wanted three years to 
arrive at man's estate. Holmes said what he could 
in favour of the project, but my father was decidedly 
against it, and at last gave a flat denial. He wrote 
a civil letter to Sir WiUiam, thanking him for the 
patronage he had so kindly offered me, and decli- 
ning to assist me as yet in setting up, I being, in his 
opinion, too young to be trusted with the manage- 
ment of an undertaking so important, and for which 
the preparation required a considerable expenditure. 

My old companion, Collins, who was a clerk in 
the postoffice, pleased with the account I gave him 
of my new country, determined to go thither also ; 
and while I waited for my father's determination, 
he set out before me by land to Rhode Island, leav- 
ing his books, which were a pretty collection of 
mathematics and natural philosophy, to come with 
mine and me to New-York, where he proposed to 
wait for me. 

My father, though he did not approve Sir Wil- 
liam's proposition, was yet pleased that I had been 
able to obtain so advantageous a character from a 
person of such note where I had resided, and that 
I had been so industrious and careful as to equip 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 47 

myself so handsomely in so short a time ; therefore, 
seeing no prospect of an accommodation between 
my brother and me, he gave his consent to my re- 
turning again to Philadelphia, advised me to behave 
respectfully to the people there, endeavour to obtain 
the general esteem, and avoid lampooning and libel- 
ling, to which he thought I had too much inclina- 
tion : telling me, that by steady industry and pru- 
dent parsimony, I might save enough by the time I 
was one-and-tvventy to set me up ; and that, if I came 
near the matter, he would help me out with the rest. 
This was all I could obtain, except some small gifts, 
as tokens of his and my mother's love, when I em- 
barked again for New- York, now with their appro- 
bation and their blessing. The sloop putting in at 
Newport, Rhode Island, I visited my brother John, 
who had been married and settled there some years. 
He received me very affectionately, for he always 
loved me. A friend of his, one Vernon, having 
some money due him in Pennsylvania (about thirty- 
five pounds currency), desired I would recover it 
for him, and keep it till I had his directions what to 
employ it in. Accordingly, he gave me an order to 
receive it. This business afterward occasioned me 
a good deal of uneasiness. 

At Newport we took in a number of passengers, 
among which were two young women travelHng 
together, and a sensible, matron-like Quaker lady, 
with her servants. I had shown an obliging dispo- 
sition to render her some little services, which 
probably impressed her with sentiments of good- 
will towards me ; for, when she witnessed the daily 
growing familiarity between the young women and 
myself, which they appeared to encourage, she took 
me aside and said, " Young man, I am concerned 
for thee, as thou hast no friend with thee, and 
seemest not to know much of the world, or of the 
snares youth is exposed to : depend upon it, these 
are very bad women. I can see it by all their ac- 



48 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

tions; and if thou art not upon thy guard, they will 
draw thee into some danger : they are strangers to 
thee, and I advise thee, in a friendly concern for 
thy welfare, to have no acquaintance with them.' 
As 1 seemed at first not to think so ill of them as 
she did, she mentioned somethings she had observ- 
ed and heard that had escaped my notice, but now 
convinced me she was right. 1 thanked her for her 
kind advice, and promised to follow it. When we 
arrived at New-York, they told me where they liv- 
ed, and invited me to come and see them, but I 
avoided it, and it was well I did ; for the next day 
the captain missed a silver spoon, and some other 
things that had been taken out of his cabin ; and ; 
knowing that these were women of bad character, 
he got a warrant to search their lodgings, found the ] 
stolen goods, and had the thieves punished. So, 
though we had escaped a sunken rock, which we 
scraped upon in the passage, I thought this escape 
of rather more importance to me. 

At New-York I found my friend Collins, who had 
arrived there some time before me. We had been 
intimate from children, and had read the same books 
together : but he had the advantage of more time 
for reading and studying, and a wonderful genius 
for mathematical learning, in which he far outstrip- 
ped me. While I lived in Boston, most of my hours 
of leisure for conversation were spent with him, 
and he continued a sober as well as industrious lad ; 
was much respected for his learning by several of 
the clergy and other gentlemen, and seemed to 
promise making a good figure in life. But during 
my absence he had acquired a habit of drinking 
brandy, and I found by his own account, as well as 
that of others, that he had been drunk every day 
since his arrival at New- York, and behaved himself 
in a very extravagant manner. He had gamed too, 
and lost his money, so that I was obliged to dis- 
charge his lodgings, and defray his expenses on the 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 49 

road and at Philadelphia, which proved a great 
burden to me. The then governor of New- York, 
Burnet (son of Bishop Burnet), hearing from the 
captain that one of the passengers had a great many 
books on board, desired him to bring me to see him. 
I waited on him, and should have taken Collins with 
me had he been sober. The governor received me 
with great civiUty, showed me his hbrary, which 
was a considerable one, and we had a good deal of 
conversation relative to books and authors. This 
was the second governor who had done me the 
honour to take notice of me ; and, for a poor boy 
like me, was very pleasing. We proceeded to Phil- 
adelphia. I received on the way Vernon's money, 
without which we could hardly have finished our 
journey. Collins wished to be employed in some 
counting-house ; but whether they discovered his 
dram-drinking by his breath or by his behaviour, 
though he had some recommendations, he met with 
no success in any application, and continued lodg- 
ing and boarding at the same house with me and at 
my expense. Knowing that I had that money of 
Vernon's, he was continually borrowing of me, still 
promising repayment as soon as he should be in 
business. At length he had got so much of it that 
I was distressed to think what I should do in case 
of being called on to remit it. His drinking con- 
tinued, about which we sometimes quarrelled ; for, 
when a little intoxicated, he was very irritable. 
Once, in a boat on the Delaware, with some other 
young men, he refused to row in his turn : " I will 
be rowed home," said he. " We will not row you," 
said I. " You must," said he, " or stay all night on 
the water, just as you please." The others said, 
" Let us row, what signifies it '?" But my mind being 
soured with his other conduct, I continued to refuse. 
So he swore he would make me row, or throw 
me overboard; and coming along, stepping on the 
thwarts towards me, when he came up and struck 
Vol. I.— 5 



50 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

at me, I clapped my hand under his thighs, and ri- 
sing, pitched him head foremost into the river. I 
knew he was a good swimmer, and so was under lit- 
tle concern about him ; but, before he could get round 
to lay hold of the boat, we had, with a few strokes, 
pulled her out of his reach ; and whenever he drew 
near the boat, we asked him if he would row, stri- 
king a few strokes to slide her away from him. He 
was ready to stifle with vexation, and obstinately 
would not promise to row. Finding him at last be- 
ginning to tire, we drew him into the boat, and 
brought him home dripping wet. We hardly ex- 
changed a civil word after this adventure. At length 
a West India captain, who had a commission to 
procure a preceptor for the sons of a gentleman at 
Barbadoes, met with him, and proposed to carry 
him thither to fill that situation. He accepted, and 
promised to remit me what he owed me out of the 
first money he should receive ; but I never heard of 
him after. The violation of my trust respecting 
Vernon's money was one of the first great errata 
of my life ; and this showed that my father was not 
much out in his judgment when he considered me 
as too young to manage business. But Sir William, 
on reading his letter, said he was too prudent ; that 
there was a great difference in persons ; and discre- 
tion did not always accompany years, nor was youth 
always without it. " But, since he will not set you 
up, I will do it myself. Give me an inventory of 
the things necessary to be had from England, and I 
will send for them. You shall repay me when you 
are able ; I am resolved to have a good printer here, 
and I am sure you must succeed." This was spo- 
ken with such an appearance of cordiality, that I 
had not the least doubt of his meaning what he said. 
I had hitherto kept the proposition of my setting up 
a secret in Philadelphia, and I still kept it. Had it 
been known that 1 depended on the governor, prob- 
ably some friend that knew him better would have 



I 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 51 

advised me not to rely on him ; as I afterward heard 
it as his known character, to be hberal of promises 
which he never meant to keep ; yet, unsohcited as 
he was by me, how could I think his generous offers 
insincere 1 I believed him one of the best men in 
the world. 

I presented him an inventory of a little printing- 
house, amounting by my computation to about one 
hundred pounds sterling. He liked it, but asked me 
if my being on the spot in England to choose the 
types, and see that everything was good of the kind, 
might not be of some advantage ; " then," said he, 
" when there, you may make acquaintance, and es- 
tablish correspondences in the bookselling and sta- 
tionary way." I agreed that this might be advan- 
tageous. " Then," said he, " get yourself ready to 
go with the Annis ;" which was the annual ship, and 
the only one at that time usually passing between 
London and Philadelphia. But as it would be some 
months before the Annis sailed, I continued working 
with Keinier, fretting extremely about the money 
Collins had got from me, and in great apprehensions 
of being called upon for it by Vernon ; this, how- 
ever, did not happen for some years after. 

I believe I have omitted mentioning that, in my 
first voyage from Boston to Philadelphia, being be- 
calmed off Block Island, our crew employed them- 
selves in catching cod, and hauled up a great num- 
ber. Till then I had stuck to my resolution to eat 
nothing that had had life ; and on this occasion I 
considered, according to my master Tryon, the ta- 
king every fish as a kind of unprovoked murder, 
since none of them had nor could do us any injury 
that might justify this massacre. All this seemed 
very reasonable. But I had been formerly a great 
lover of fish, and when it came out of the frying- 
pan it smelled admirably well. I balanced some 
time between principle and inclination, till, recol- 
lecting that when fish were opened I saw smaller 



52 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

fish taken out of their stomachs ; then, thought I, 
'' if you eat one another, I don't see why we may 
not eat you." So I dined upon cod very heartily, 
and have since continued to eat as other people ; 
returning only now and then occasionally to a vege- 
table diet. So convenient a thing it is to be a reas- 
onable creature, since it enables one to find or make a 
reason for everything one has a mind to do. 

Keinier and I lived on a pretty good, famihar foot- 
ing, and agreed tolerably well ; for he suspected 
nothing of my setting up. He retained a great deal 
of his old enthusiasm, and loved argumentation. 
We therefore had many disputations. I used to 
work him so with my Socratic method, and had 
trepanned him so often by questions apparently so 
distant from any point we had in hand, yet by de- 
grees leading to the point, and bringing him into 
difficulties and contradictions, that at last he grew 
ridiculously cautious, and would hardly answer me 
the most common questions, without asking first, 
" What do you intend to infer from that V However, 
it gave him so high an opinion of my abilities in the 
confuting way, that he seriously proposed my being 
his colleague in a project he had of setting up a new 
sect. He was to preach the doctrines, and I was 
to confound all opponents. When he came to ex- 
plain with me upon the doctrines, I found several 
conundrums which I objected to, unless I might 
have my way a little too, and introduce some of 
mine. Keimer wore his beard at full length, be- 
cause somewhere in the Mosaic law it is said, 
*' Thou shalt not mar the corners of thy beard.'''' He 
likewise kept the seventh-day Sabbath ; and these 
two points were essential with him. I disliked 
both ; but agreed to them on condition of his adopt- 
ing the doctrine of not using animal food, I doubt, 
said he, my constitution will not bear it. I assured 
him it would, and that he would be the better for it. 
He was usually a great eater, and I wished to give 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 53 

myself some diversion in half starving him. He 
consented to try the practice if I would keep him 
company : I did so. and we held it for three months. 
Our provisions were purchased, cooked, and brought 
to us regularly by a woman in the neighbourhood, 
who had from me a list of forty dishes, which she 
prepared for us at different times, in which there 
entered neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. This whim 
suited me the better at this time, from the cheap- 
ness of it, not costing us above eighteen pence 
sterling each per week. I have since kept several 
Lents most strictly, leaving the common diet for that, 
and that for the common, abruptly, without the least 
inconvenience. So that I think there is httle in the 
advice of making those changes by easy gradations. 
I went on pleasantly, but poor Keimer suffered 
grievously, grew tired of the project, longed for the 
fleshpots of Egypt, and ordered a roast pig. He 
invited me and two women friends to dine with him : 
but it being brought too soon upon table, he could 
not resist the temptation, and ate the whole before 
-we came. 

I had made some courtship during this time to Miss 
Read ; I had a great respect and affection for her, 
and had some reasons to believe she had the same 
for me ; but as I was about to take a long voyage, 
and we were both very young (only a little above 
eighteen), it was thought most prudent by her 
mother to prevent our going too far at present ; as 
a marriage, if it was to take place, would be more 
convenient after my return, when I should be, as. I 
hoped, set up in my business. Perhaps, too, she 
thought my expectations not so well founded as I 
imagined them to be. 

My chief acquaintances at this time were Charles 
Osborne, Joseph Watson, and James Ralph; all 
lovers of reading. The first two were clerks to an 
eminent scrivener or conveyancer in the town 
(Charles Brockden), the other was a clerk to a mer- 
6* 



54 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

chant. Watson was a pious, sensible young man, 
of great integrity: the others rather more lax in 
their principles of religion, particularly Ralph, who, 
as well as Collins, had been unsettled by me, for 
which they both made me suffer. Osborne was 
sensible, candid, frank, sincere, and affectionate to 
his friends ; but in literary matters too fond of crit- 
icism. Ralph was ingenuous, genteel in his man- 
ners, and extremely eloquent ; 1 think I never knew 
a prettier talker. Both were great admirers of 
poetry, and began to try their hands in little pieces. 
Many pleasant walks we have had together on Sun- 
days in the woods on the banks of the Schuylkill, 
where we read to one another, and conferred on 
what we had read. Ralph was inclined to give him- 
self up entirely to poetry, not doubting but he 
might make great proficiency in it, and even make 
his fortune by it. He pretended that the greatest 
poets must, when they first began to write, have 
committed as many faults as he did. Osborne en- 
deavoured to dissuade him, assured him he had no 
genius for poetry, and advised him to think of no- 
thing beyond the business he was bred to ; *' that in 
the mercantile way, though he had no stock, he 
might, by his diligence and punctuality, recommend 
himself to employment as a factor, and in time ac- 
quire wherewith to trade on his own account." I 
approved, for my part, the amusing one's self with 
poetry now and then, so far as to improve one's 
language, but no farther. On this it was proposed 
that we should each of us, at our next meeting, pro- 
duce a piece of our own composing, in order to im- 
prove by our mutual observations, criticisms, and 
corrections. As language and expression was 
•what we had in view, we excluded all considera- 
tions of invention, by agreeing that the task should 
be a version of the eighteenth Psalm, which de- 
scribes the descent of a deity. When the time of 
our meeting drew nigh, Ralph called on me first, 



1 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 55 

and let me know his piece was ready : I told him I 
had been busy, and, having httle inclination, had 
done nothing. He then showed me his piece for 
my opinion, and I much approved it, as it appeared 
to me to have great merit. " Now," said he, " Os- 
borne never will allow the least merit in anything 
of mine, but makes a thousand criticisms out of mere 
envy : he is not so jealous of you ; I wish, there- 
fore, you would take this piece and produce it as 
yours : 1 will pretend not to have had time, and so 
produce nothing; we shall then hear what he will 
say to it." It was agreed, and I immediately trans- 
cribed it, that it might appear in my own hand. 
We met : Watson's performance was read ; there 
were some beauties in it, but many defects. Os- 
borne's was read ; it was much better. Ralph did 
it justice, remarked some faults, but applauded the 
beauties. He himself had nothing to produce. I 
was backward, seemed desirous of being excused, 
had not had sufficient time to correct, &c., but no 
excuse could be admitted ; produce I must. It was 
read and repeated : Watson and Osborne gave up 
the contest, and joined in applauding it. Ralph 
only made some criticisms and proposed some 
amendments ; but I defended my text. Osborne 
was severe against Ralph, and told me he was no 
better able to criticise than to compose verses. As 
these two were returning home, Osborne expressed 
himself still more strongly in favour of what he 
thought my production ; having before refrained, as 
he said, lest I should think he meant to flatter me. 
" But who would have imagined," said he, " that 
Franklin was capable of such a performance ; such 
painting, such force, such fire ! He has even im- 
proved on the original. In common conversation 
he seems to have no choice of words ; he hesitates 
and blunders ; and yet, good God, how he writes !" 
When we next met, Ralph discovered the trick we 
had played, and Osborne was laughed at. This 



56 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

transaction fixed Ralph in his resolution of becom- 
ing a poet. I did all I could to dissuade him from 
it, but he continued scribbling verses till Pope cured 
him.* He became, however, a pretty good prose 
writer. More of him hereafter. But as I may not 
have occasion to mention the other two, I shall just 
remark here that Watson died in my arms a few- 
years after, much lamented, being the best of our 
set. Osborne went to the West Indies, where he 
became an eminent lawyer, and made money. He 
and I had made a serious agreement, that the one 
who happened first to die should, if possible, make 
a friendly visit to the other, and acquaint him how 
he found things in that separate state. But he 
never fulfilled his promise. 

The governor, seeming to like my company, had 
me frequently at his house, and his setting me up 
was always mentioned as a fixed thing. I was to 
take with me letters recommendatory to a number 
of his friends, besides the letter of credit to furnish 
me with the necessary money for purchasing the 
press, types, paper, &c. For these letters 1 was 
appointed to call at different times, when they were 
to be ready, but a future time was still named. 
Thus we went on till the ship (whose departure, 
too, had been several times postponed) was on the 
point of sailing. Then, when 1 called to take my 
leave and receive the letters, his secretary. Dr. 
Baird, came out to me and said the governor was 
extremely busy in writing, but would be down at 
Newcastle before the ship, and then the letters 
would be delivered to me. 

Ralph, though married, and having one child, had 
determined to accompany me in this voyage. It 
was thought he intended to establish a correspond- 
ence and obtain goods to sell on commission ; but I 

* "Silence, ye wolves, while Ralph to Cynthia howls, 
And makes night hideous : answer him, ye owls !" 

Pope's Dunciad, b. iii., v. 165^ 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 67 

found after, that, having some cause of discontent 
with his wife's relations, he proposed to leave her 
on their hands and never return to America. Hav- 
ing taken leave of my friends and exchanged prom- 
ises with Miss Read, I quitted Philadelphia in the 
ship, which anchored at Newcastle. The governor 
was there, but when I went to his lodging, his sec- 
retary came to me from him with expressions of 
the greatest regret that he could not then see me, 
being engaged in business of importance ; but that 
he would send the letters to me on board, wishing 
me heartily a good voyage and a speedy return, 
&c. I returned on board a little puzzled, but still 
not doubting. 

Mr. Andrew Hamilton, a celebrated lawyer of 
Philadelphia, had taken his passage in the same 
ship for himself and son, with Mr. Denham, a Qua- 
ker merchant, and Messrs. Oniam and Russel (mas- 
ters of an iron work in Maryland), who had engaged 
the great cabin ; so that Ralph and I were forced to 
take up with a birth in the steerage, and, none on 
board knowing us, were considered as ordinary per- 
sons. But Mr. Hamilton and his son (it was James, 
since governor) returned from Newcastle to Phila- 
delphia, the father being recalled by a great fee to 
plead for a seized ship. And just before we sailed, 
Colonel French coming on board, and showing me 
great respect, I was more taken notice of ; and, with 
my friend Ralph, invited by the other gentlemen to 
come into the cabin, there being now room ; ac- 
cordingly, we removed thither. 

Understanding that Colonel French had brought 
on board the governor's despatches, I asked the 
captain for those letters that were to be under my 
care ; he said all were put into the bag together, 
and he could not then come at them, but before we 
landed in England I should have an opportunity of 
picking them out ; so I was satisfied for the present, 
and we proceeded on our voyage. We had a so- 



58 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

ciable company in the cabin, and lived uncommonly 
well, having the addition of all Mr. Hamilton's 
stores, who had laid in plentifully. In this passage 
Mr. Denham contracted a friendship for me, that 
continued during his life. The voyage was other- 
wise not a pleasant one, as we had a great deal of 
bad weather. 

When we came into the Channel, the captain 
kept his word with me, and gave me an opportunity 
of examining the bag for the governor's letters ; I 
found some upon which my name was put, as un- 
der my care : I picked out six or seven, that by 
the handwriting I thought might be the promised 
letters, especially as one of them was addressed to 
Basket, the king's printer, and another to some sta- 
tioner. We arrived in London the 24lh December, 
1724. I waited upon the stationer, who came first 
in my way, delivering the letter as from Governor 
Keith. *' I don't know such a person," said he : but 
opening the letter, " Oh ! this is from Riddlesden. I 
have lately found him to be a complete rascal, and 
1 will have nothing to do with him, nor receive any 
letters from him." So, putting the letter into my 
hand, he turned on his heel and left me to serve 
some customer. I was surprised to find these were 
not the governor's letters ; and, after recollecting 
and comparing circumstances, I began to doubt his 
sincerity. I found my friend Denham, and opened 
the whole affair to him. He let me into Keith's 
character ; told me there was not the least probabil- 
ity that he had written any letters for me ; that no 
one who knew him had the smallest dependance 
on him ; and he laughed at the idea of the govern- 
or's giving me a letter of credit, having, as he said, 
no credit to give. On my expressing some concern 
about what I should do, he advised me to endeavour 
to get some employment in the way of my busi- 
ness. Among the printers here, said he, you will 
improve yourself, and when you return to America 
you will set up to greater advantage. 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 69 

We both of us happened to know, as well as the 
stationer, that Riddlesden, the attorney, was a very- 
knave ; he had half ruined Miss Read's father, by 
persuading him to be bound for him. By his letter 
it appeared there was a secret scheme on foot to 
the prejudice of Mr. Hamilton (supposed to be then 
coming over with us) ; that Keith was concerned in 
it, with Riddlesden. Denham, who was a friend of 
Hamilton's, thought he ought to be acquainted with 
it ; so, when he arrived in England, which was soon 
after, partly from resentment and ill will to Keith 
and Riddlesden, and partly from good will to him, I 
waited on him and gave him the letter. He thanked 
me cordially, the information being of importance to 
him ; and from that time he became my friend, great- 
ly to my advantage afterward on many occasions. 

But what shall we think of a governor playing 
such pitiful tricks, and imposing so grossly upon a 
poor ignorant boy ! It was a habit he had acquired ; 
he wished to please everybody, and having little to 
give, he gave expectations. He was otherwise an 
ingenious, sensible man, a pretty good writer, and 
a good governor for the people, though not for his 
constituents the proprietaries, whose instructions 
he sometimes disregarded : several of our best laws 
were of his planning, and passed during his admin- 
istration. 

Ralph and I were inseparable companions. We 
took lodgings together in Little Britain, at 3^. Qd. 
per week ; as much as we could then afford. He 
found some relations, but they were poor, and un- 
able to assist him. He now let me know his inten- 
tions of remaining in London, and that he never 
meant to return to Philadelphia. He had brought 
no money with him, the whole he could muster hav- 
ing been expended in paying his passage. I had 
fifteen pistoles ; so he borrowed occasionally of me 
to subsist, while he was looking out for business 
He first endeavoured to get into the playhouse, be- 



60 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

lieving himself qualified for an actor ; but Wilkes, 
to whom he applied, advised him candidly not to 
think of that employment, as it was impossible he 
should succeed in it. Then he proposed to Roberts, 
a publisher in Paternoster Row, to write for him a 
weekly paper like the Spectator, on certain condi- 
tions ; which Roberts did not approve. Then he 
endeavoured to get employment as a hackney-wri- 
ter, to copy for the stationers and lawyers about the 
Temple ; but could not find a vacancy. 

For myself, I immediately got into work at Pal- 
mer's, a famous printing-house in Bartholomew 
Close, where I continued near a year. 1 was pretty 
diligent, but I spent with Ralph a good deal of -my 
earnings, at plays and public amusements ; we had 
nearly consumed all my pistoles, and now just 
rubbed on from hand to mouth. He seemed quite 
to have forgotten his wife and child; and I, by de- 
grees, my engagements with Miss Read, to whom I 
never wrote more than one letter, and that was to 
let her know I was not likely soon to return. This 
was another of the great errata of my life which I 
could wish to correct if 1 were to live it over again. 
In fact, by our expenses I was constantly kept un- 
able to pay my passage. 

At Palmer's 1 was employed in composing for the 
second edition of Woollaston's Religion of Nature. 
Some of his reasonings not appearing to me well- 
founded, I wrote a little metaphysical piece, in 
which I made remarks on them. It was entitled, 
" A Dissertation on Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and 
Pain^ I inscribed it to my friend Ralph ; I printed a 
small number. It occasioned my being more consid- 
ered by Mr. Palmer as a young man of some ingenu- 
ity, though he seriously expostulated with me upon 
the principles of my pamphlet, which to him appear- 
ed abominable. My printing this pamphlet was an- 
other erratum. While I lodged in Little Britaiyi, I 
made acquaintance with one Wilcox, a bookseller, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN". Bl 

whose shop was next door. He had an immense 
collection of second-hand books. Circulating li- 
braries were not then in use, but we agreed that on 
certain reasonable terms (which 1 have now forgot- 
ten), I might take, read, and return any of his 
books; this I esteemed a great advantage, and I 
made as much use of it as I could. 

My pamphlet by some means faUing into the 
hands of one Lyons, a surgeon, author of a book 
entitled " The Infallibility of Human Judgment,'''^ it oc- 
casioned an acquaintance between us ; he took great 
notice of me, called on me often to converse on 
those subjects, carried me to the Horns, a pale ale- 
house in lane, Cheapside, and introduced me 

to Dr. Mandeville, author of the Fable of the Bees, 
who had a club there, of which he was the soul, be- 
ing a most facetious, entertaining companion. Ly- 
ons, too, introduced me to Dr. Pemberton,* at Bas- 
ton's Coflee-house, who promised to give me an op- 
portunity, some time or other, of seeing Sir Isaac 
Newton, of which 1 was extremely desirous ; but 
this never happened. 

I had brought over a few curiosities, among which 
the principal was a purse made of the asbestos, which 
purifies by fire. Sir Hans Sloane heard of it, came 
to see me, invited me to his house in Bloomsbury 
Square, showed me all his curiosities, and persuaded 
me to add that to the number ; for which he paid me 
handsomely. 

At my first admission into the printing-house I 
took to working at press, imagining I felt a want of 
the bodily exercise I had been used to in America, 
where presswork is mixed with the composing. I 
drank only water ; the other workmen, near fifty in 
number, were great drinkers of beer. On occasion, 
I carried up and down stairs a large form of types 
in each hand, when others carried but one in both 

* F. R. S., author of " A View of Sir Isaac Newton's Phi- 
losophy," and " A Treatise on Chymistry ;" died in 177J. 
Vofc. L-6 



62 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

hands ; they wondered to see, from this and several 
instances, that the Water American, as they called 
me, was stronger than themselves who drank strong 
beer ! We had an alehouse-boy, who attended al- 
ways in the house to supply the workmen. My 
companion at the press drank every day a pint be- 
fore breakfast, a pint at breakfast with his bread and 
cheese, a pint between breakfast and dinner, a pint 
at dinner ; a pint in the afternoon about six o'clock, 
and another when he had done his day's work. I 
thought it a detestable custom ; but it was neces- 
sary, he supposed, to drink strong beer, that he might 
be strong to labour. I endeavoured to convince him 
that the bodily strength afforded by beer could only 
be in proportion to the grain or flour of the barley 
dissolved in the water of which it was made ; that 
there was more flour in a pennyworth of bread, and, 
therefore, if he could eat that with a pint of water, it 
would give him more strength than a quart of beer. 
He drank on, however, and had four or five shiUings 
to pay out of his wages every Saturday night for that 
vile liquor : an expense I was free from ; and thus 
these poor devils keep themselves always under. 

Watts, after some weeks, desiring to have me in 
the composing-room, 1 left the pressmen ; a new 
iien venu for drink (being five shillings) was demand- 
ed of me by the compositors. I thought it an im- 
position, as I had paid one to the pressmen ; the 
master thought so too, and forbade my paying it. 
I stood out two or three weeks, was accordingly con- 
sidered as an excommunicate, and had so many little 
pieces of private malice practised on me, by mixing 
my sorts, transposing and breaking my matter, &c., 
&c., if ever I stepped out of the room, and all ascri- 
bed to the chapel ghost, which they said ever haunt- 
ed those not regularly admitted, that, notwithstand- 
ing the master's protection, 1 found myself obliged 
to comply and pay the money, convinced of the fol- 
ly of being on ill terms with those one is to live 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 69 

with continually. I was now on a fair footing with 
them, and soon acquired considerable influence. I 
proposed some reasonable alterations in their chapel* 
laws, and carried them against all opposition. From 
my example a great many of them left their mud- 
dling breakfast of beer, bread and cheese, finding 
they could with me be supplied from a neighbour- 
ing house with a large porringer of hot water-gruel, 
sprinkled with pepper, crumbled with bread, and a 
bit of butter in it, for the price of a pint of beer, 
viz., three halfpence. This was a more comfortable 
as well as a cheaper breakfast, and kept their heads 
clearer. Those who continued sotting with their 
beer all day, were often, by not paying, out of credit 
at the alehouse, and used to make interest with me 
to get beer, their light, as they phrased it, being out. 
I watched the pay-table on Saturday night, and col- 
lected what I stood engaged for them, having to pay 
sometimes near thirty shillings a week on their ac- 
counts. This, and my being esteemed a pretty 
good rig-ite, that is, a jocular verbal satirist, sup- 
ported my consequence in the society. My con- 
stant attendance (I never making a St. Monday) rec- 
ommended me to the master ; and my uncommon 
quickness at composing occasioned my being put 
upon work of despatch, which was generally better 
paid ; so I went on now very agreeably. 

My lodgings in Little Britain being too remote, I 
found another in Duke-street, opposite to the Ro- 
mish Chapel. It was up three flights of stairs back- 
ward, at an Italian warehouse. A widow lady 

♦ A printing-house is always called a chapel by the workmen, 
because printing was first carried on in England in an ancient 
chapel, and the title has been preserved by tradition. The bien 
venu among the printers, answers to the terms entrance and 
footing among mechanics ; thus a journeyman, on entering a 
printing-house, was accustomed to pay one or more gallons of 
beer /or the good of the chapel ; this custom was falling into dis- 
use thirty years ago ; it is very properly rejected entirely in the 
United States. 



64 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

kept the house ; she had a daughter, and a maid- 
servant, and a journeyman who attended the ware- 
house, but lodged abroad. After sending to inquire 
my character at the house where I last lodged, she 
agreed to take me in at the same rate, 35. 6d. per 
week ; cheaper, as she said, from the protection she 
expected in having a man to lodge in the house. 
She was a widow, an elderly woman ; had been bred 
a Protestant, being a clergyman's daughter, but was 
converted to the Cathohc religion by her husband, 
whose memory she much revered ; had lived much 
among people of distinction, and knew a thousand 
anecdotes of them, as far back as Charles the Sec- 
ond. She was lame in her knees with the gout, 
and therefore seldom stirred out of her room, so she 
sometimes wanted company; and hers was so high- 
ly amusing to me, that I was sure to spend an even- 
ing with her whenever she desired it. Our supper 
was only half an anchovy each, on a very little slice 
of bread and butter, and half a pint of ale between 
us ; but the entertainment was in her conversation. 
My always keeping good hours, and giving httle 
trouble in the family, made her unwilling to part 
with me ; so that, when 1 talked of a lodging I had 
heard of nearer my business, for 2s. a week, which, 
intent as I was on saving money, made some differ- 
ence, she bid me not think of it, for she would abate 
me 2s. a week for the future ; so I remained with 
her at I5. 6d. as long as I stayed in London. 

In a garret of her house there lived a maiden lady 
of seventy, in the most retired manner, of whom 
my landlady gave me this account : that she was a 
Roman Catholic, had been sent abroad when young, 
and lodged in a nunnery with an intent of becom- 
ing a nun ; but, the country not agreeing with h^r, 
she returned to England, where, there being no nun- 
nery, she had vowed to lead the life of a nun as 
near as might be done in those circumstances. Ac- 
cordingly, she had given all her estate to charitable 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 65^ 

purposes, reserving only twelve pounds a year to 
live on, and out of this sum she still gave a part in 
charity, living herself on water-gruel only, and 
using no fire but to boil it. She had lived many 
years in that garret, being permitted to remain there 
gratis by successive Catholic tenants of the house 
below, as they deemed it a blessing to have her 
there. A priest visited her to confess her every 
day : " from this I asked her," said my landlady, 
" how she, as she lived, could possibly find so much 
employment for a confessor." " Oh," said she, 
"it is impossible to avoid vain thoughts.''^ I was 
permitted once to visit her; she was cheerful and 
polite, and conversed pleasantly. The room was 
clean, but had no other furniture than a mattress, a 
table with a crucifix, and a book, a stool which she 
gave me to sit on, and a picture over the chimney 
of St. Veronica displaying her handkerchief, with 
the miraculous figure of Christ's bleeding face on 
it, which she explained to me with great serious- 
ness. She looked pale, but was never sick, and I 
give it as another instance on how small an income 
life and health may be supported. 

At Watts's printing-house I contracted an ac- 
quaintance with an ingenious man, one Wygate, 
who, having wealthy relations, had been better edu- 
cated than most printers ; was a tolerable Latinist, 
spoke French, and loved reading. I taught him and 
a friend of his to swim at twice going into the 
river, and they soon became good swimmers. They 
introduced me to some gentlemen from the country, 
who went to Chelsea by water, to see the college 
and Don Saltero's curiosities. In our return, at the 
request of the company, whose curiosity Wygate 
had excited, I stripped and leaped into the river, 
and swam from near Chelsea to Blackfriars ; per- 
forming in the way many feats of activity both upon 
and under the water, that surprised and pleased 
those to whom they were novelties. I had from a 
0* 



66 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

child been delighted with this exercise, had studied 
and practised Thevenot's motions and positions, ad- 
ded some of mine own, aiming at the graceful and 
easy as well as the useful. All these I took this 
occasion of exhibiting to the company, and was 
much flattered by their admiration; and Wygate, 
who was desirous of becoming a master, grew more 
and more attached to me on that account, as well 
as from the similarity of our studies. He at length 
proposed to me travelling all over Europe together, 
supporting ourselves everywhere by worlving at 
our business. I was once inchned to it ; but men- 
tioning it to my good friend Mr. Denham, with 
whom 1 often spent an hour when I had leisure, he 
dissuaded me from it, advising me to think only of 
returning to Pennsylvania, which he was now about 
to do. 

I must record one trait of this good man's charac- 
ter : he had formerly been in business at Bristol, 
but failed in debt to a number of people, compound- 
ed and went to America ; there, by a close appli- 
cation to business as a merchant, he acquired a 
plentiful fortune in a few years. Returning to Eng- 
land in the ship with me, he invited his old credi- 
tors to an entertainment, at which he thanked them 
for the easy composition they had favoured him 
with, and when they expected nothing but the treat, 
every man at the first remove found under his plate 
an order on a banker for the full amount of the un- 
paid remainder, with interest. 

He now told me he was about to return to Phila- 
delphia, and should carry over a great quantity of 
goods in order to open a store there. He proposed 
to take me over as his clerk, to keep his books (in 
which he would instruct me), copy his letters, and 
attend the store ; he added, that, as soon as I should 
be acquainted with mercantile business, he would 
promote me, by sending me with a cargo of flour 
and bread, i&c, to the West Indies, and procure me 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 67 

commissions from others which would be profitable ; 
and, if I managed well, would establish rae hand- 
somely. The thing pleased me, for I was grown 
tired of London ; remembered with pleasure the 
happy months I had sp^nt in Pennsylvania, and 
wished again to see it ; therefore I immediately 
agreed on the terms of fifty pounds a year, Penn- 
sylvania money ; less, indeed, than my present get- 
tings as a compositor, but affording better prospects. 

1 now took leave of printing, as I thought, for 
ever, and was daily employed in my new business : 
going about with Mr. Denham among the trades- 
men, to purchase various articles and see them 
packed up, delivering messages, caUing upon work- 
men to despatch, &c. ; and, when all was on board, 
1 had a few days' leisure. On one of these days I 
was, to my surprise, sent for by a great man, I knew 
only by name (Sir William Wyndham), and I wait- 
ed upon him ; he had heard, by some means or other, 
of my swimming from Chelsea to Blackfriars, and 
of my teaching Wygate and another young man to 
swim in a few hours : he had two sons, about to 
set out on their travels ; he wished to have them 
first taught swimming, and proposed to gratify me 
handsomely if I would teach them. They were 
not yet come to town, and my stay was uncertain, 
so r could not undertake it ; but from the incident 
I thought it likely, that if I were to remain in Eng- 
land and open a swimming school, I might get a 
good deal of money ; and it struck me so strongly, 
that, had the overture been made me sooner, proba- 
bly I should not so soon have returned to America. 
Many years after, you and I had something of more 
importance to do with one of those sons of Sir Wil- 
liam Wyndham, become Earl of Egremont, which I 
shall mention in its place. 

Thus I passed about eighteen months in London ; 
most part of the time I worked hard at my busi- 
ness, and spent but little upon myself, except in 



68 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

seeing plays and in books. My friend Ralph had 
kept me poor ; he owed me about twenty-seven 
pounds, which I was now never hkely to receive; 
a great sum out of my small earnings ! I loved 
him, notwithstanding, for he had many amiable 
qualities. I had improved my knowledge, howev- 
er, though I had by no means improved my fortune ; 
but I had made some very ingenious acquaintance, 
whose conversation was of great advantage to me, 
and I had read considerably. 

We sailed from Gravesend on the 23d of July, 
1726. For the incidents of the voyage I refer you 
to my journal, where you will find them all mi- 
nutely related. Perhaps the most important part 
of that journal is the plan to be found in it, which I 
formed at sea, for regulating the future conduct of 
my life. It is the more remarkable as being form- 
ed when I was so young, and yet being pretty faith- 
fully adhered to quite through to old age. 

We landed at Philadelphia the 11th of October, 
where I found sundry alterations. Keith was no 
longer governor, being superseded by Major Gor- 
don ; I met him walking the streets as a commoa 
citizen ; he seemed a little ashamed at seeing me, 
and passed without saying anything. I should have 
been as much ashamed at seeing Miss Read, had 
not her friends, despairing with reason of my re- 
turn after the receipt of my letter, persuaded her 
to marry another, one Rogers, a potter, which was 
done in my absence. With him, however, she was 
never happy, and soon parted from him, refusing to 
cohabit with him or bear his name, it being naw 
said he had another wife. He was a worthless fel- 
low, though an excellent workman, which was the 
temptation to her friends ; he got into debt, ran 
away in 1727 or 1728, went to the West Indies, and 
died there. Keimer had got a better house, a shop 
well supplied with stationary, plenty of new types, 
and a number of hands, though none good, and 
seemed to have a great deal of business. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 69 

Mr. Denham took a store in Water-street, where 
we opened our goods ; I attended the business dili- 
gently, studied accounts, and grew in a little time 
expert at selling. We lodged and boarded togeth- 
er; he counselled me as a frither, having a sincere 
regard for me : I respected and loved him, and we 
might have gone on together very happily, but in 
the beginning of February, 1727, when 1 had just 
passed my twenty-first year, we both were taken 
ill. My distemper was a pleurisy, which very 
nearly carried me off; I suffered a good deal, gave 
up the point in my own mind, and was at the time 
rather disappointed when 1 found myself recover- 
ing; regretting in some degree that I must now, 
some time or other, have all that disagreeable work 
to go over again. I forget what Mr. Denham's dis- 
temper was ; it held him a long time, and at length 
carried him off. He left me a small legacy in a 
nuncupative will, as a token of his kindness to me, 
and he left me once more to the wide world, for the 
store was taken into the care of his executors, and 
my employment under him ended. My brother-in- 
law, Holmes, being now at Philadelphia, advised my 
return to my business ; and Keimer tempted me 
with an offer of large wages by the year, to come 
%nd take the management of his printing-house, 
that he might better attend to his stationer's shop. 
I had heard a bad character of him in London from 
his wife and her friends, and was not for having 
any more to do with him. I wished for employ- 
ment as a merchant's clerk, but not meeting with 
any, I closed again with Keimer. I found in his 
house these hands : Hugh Meredith, a Welsh Penn- 
sylvanian, thirty years of age, bred to country 
work; he was honest, sensible, a man of experi- 
ence, and fond of reading, but addicted to drinking. 
Stephen Potts, a young countryman of full age, bred 
to the same, of uncommon natural parts, and great 
wit and humour, but a little idle. These he had 



70 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

agreed with at extreme low wages per week, to be 
raised a shilling every three months as they should 
deserve by improving in their business; and the ex- 
pectation of these high wages to come on hereafter 
was what he had drawn them in with. Meredith 
was to work at press, Potts at bookbinding, which 
he, by agreement, was to teach them, though he 
knew neither one nor the other. John Savage, an 
Irishman, brought up to no business, whose service 
for four years Keimer had purchased from the cap- 
tain of a ship ; he too was to be made a pressman. 
George Webb, an Oxford scholar, whose time for 
four years he had likewise bought, intending him 
for a compositor (of whom more presently), and 
David Harry, a country boy, whom he had taken 
apprentice. 

I soon perceived that the intention of engaging 
me, at wages so much higher than he had been used 
to give, was to have these raw, cheap hands formed 
through me ; and, as soon as I had instructed them 
(they being all articled to him), he should be able to 
do without me. I went, however, very cheerfully, 
put his printing-house in order, which had been in 
great confusion, and brought his hands by degrees 
to mind their business, and to do it better. 

It w^as an odd thing to find an Oxford scholar ia 
the situation of a bought servant ; he was not more 
than eighteen years of age; he gave me this ac- 
count of himself : that he was born in Gloucester, 
educated at a grammar-school, and had been dis- 
tinguished among the scholars for some apparent 
superiority in performing his part when they ex- 
hibited plays ; belonged to the Wit's club there, and 
had written some pieces in prose and verse, which 
were printed in the Gloucester newspapers ; thence 
was sent to Oxford ; there he continued about a 
year, but not well satisfied, wishing of all things to 
see London and become a player. At length, re- 
ceiving his quarterly allowance of fifteen guineas, 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 71 

instead of discharging his debts he went out of 
town, hid his gown in a furz bush, and walked to 
London, where, having no friend to advise him, he 
fell into bad company, soon spent his guineas, found 
no means of being introduced among the players, 
grew necessitous, pawned his clothes, and wanted 
bread. Walking the street, very hungry, and not 
knowing what to do with himself, a crimp's bill was 
put into his hand, offering immediate entertainment 
and encouragement to such as would bind them- 
selves to serve in America ; he went directly, sign- 
ed the indentures, was put into the ship, and came 
over, never writing a line to his friends to acquaint 
them what was become of him. He was lively, 
witty, good-natured, and a pleasant companion ; but 
idle, thoughtless, and imprudent to the last degree. 

John, the Irishman, soon ran away ; with the rest 
I began to live very agreeably, for they all respect- 
ed me the more, as they found Keimer incapable of 
instructing them, and that from me they learned 
something daily. My acquaintance with ingenious 
people in the town increased. We never worked 
on Saturday, that being Keimer's Sabbath, so that I 
had two days for reading. Keimer himself treated 
me with great civility and apparent regard, and no- 
thing now made me uneasy but my debt to Vernon, 
which 1 was yet unable to pay, being hitherto but a 
poor economist ; he, however, kindly made no de- 
mand of it. 

Our printing-house often wanted sorts, and there 
was no letter foundry in America. I had seen 
types cast at James's in London, but without much 
attention to the manner ; however, I now contrived 
a mould, and made use of the letters we had as 
puncheons, struck the matrices in lead, and thus 
supplied, in a pretty tolerable way, all deficiencies. 
I also engraved several things on occasion ; made 
the ink ; I was warehouse-man, and, in short, quite 
a. factotum. 



72 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

But, however serviceable I might be, I found that 
my services became every day of less importance, 
as the other hands improved in their business ; and 
when Keimer paid me a second quarter's wages, he 
let me know that he felt them too heavy, and 
thought 1 should make an abatement. He grew by 
degrees less civil, put on more the airs of master, 
frequently found fault, was captious, and seemed 
ready for an outbreaking. I went on, nevertheless, 
with a good deal of patience, thinking that his en- 
cumbered circumstances were partly the cause. At 
length a trifle snapped our connexion ; for a great 
noise happening near the courthouse, I put my 
head out of the window to see what was the mat- 
ter. Keimer, being in the street, looked up and saw 
me ; called out to me in a loud voice and an angry 
tone, to mind my business ; adding some reproach- 
ful words, that nettled me the more for their pub- 
licity ; all the neighbours, who were looking out on 
the same occasion, being witnesses how I was treat- 
ed. He came up immediately into the printing- 
house ; continued the quarrel ; high words passed 
on both sides ; he gave me the quarter's warning we 
had stipulated, expressing a wish that he had not 
been obhged to so long a warning. I told him his 
wish was unnecessary, for I would leave him that 
instant ; and so, taking my hat, walked out of doors, 
desiring Meredith, whom I saw below, to take care 
of some things I left and bring them to my lodgings. 

Meredith came accordingly in the evening, when 
we talked my affair over. He had conceived a great 
regard for me, and was very unwilhng that I should 
leave the house while he remained "in it. He dis- 
suaded me from returning to my native country, 
which I began to think of; he reminded me that 
Keimer was in debt for all he possessed ; that his 
creditors began to be uneasy ; that he kept his shop 
miserably, sold often without a profit for ready 
money, and often trusted without keeping accounts ; 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 73 

that he must therefore fail, which would make a 
vacancy I might profit of. I objected my want of 
money. He then let me know that his father had 
a high opinion of me, and, from some discourse that 
had passed between them, he was sure he would 
advance money to set me up, if I would enter into 
partnership with him. My time, said he, will be out 
with Keimer in the spring ; by that time we may 
hav^ our press and types in from London. I am 
sensible I am no workman : if you like it, your skill 
in the business shall be set against the stock I fur- 
nish, and we will share the profits equally. The 
proposal was agreeable to me, and I consented ; his 
father was in town and approved of it ; the more, he 
said, as I had great influence with his son ; had pre- 
vailed on him to abstain long from dram-drinking, 
and he hoped might break him of that wretched habit 
entirely when we came to be so closely connected. 
I gave an inventory to the father, who carried it to a 
merchant : the things were sent for, the secret was 
to be kept till they should arrive, and in the mean 
time I was to get work, if I could, at the other 
printing-house. But I found no vacancy there, and 
so remained idle a few days, when Keimer, on a 
prospect of being employed to print some paper 
money in New-Jersey, which would require cuts and 
various types that I only could supply, and appre- 
hending Bradford might engage me and get the job 
from him, sent me a very civil message, that old 
friends should not part for a few words, the effect of 
sudden passion, and wishing me to return. Mere- 
dith persuaded me to comply, as it would give more 
opportunity for his improvement under my daily in- 
structions ; so I returned, and we went on more 
smoothly than for some time before. The New- 
Jersey job was obtained ; I contrived a copperplate 
press for it, the first that had been seen in the coun- 
try ; I cut several ornaments and checks for the 
bills. We went together to Burlington, where I ex- 
YoL. 1.-7 



74 I'IFE OF FRANKLIN. 

edited the whole to satisfaction ; and he received 
so large a sum for the work as to be enabled there- 
by to keep himself longer from ruin. 

At Burlington I made an acquaintance with many 
principal people of the province. Several of them 
had been appointed by the Assembly a committee 
to attend the press, and take care that no more bills 
were printed than the law directed. They were, 
therefore, by turns, constantly with us, and gener- 
ally he who attended brought with him a friend or 
two for company. My mind having been much 
more improved by reading than Keimer's, I suppose 
it was for that reason my conversation seemed to 
be more valued. They had me to their houses, in- 
troduced me to their friends, and showed me much 
civility ; while he, though the master, was a little 
neglected. In truth, he was an odd creature ; ig- 
norant of common life, fond of rudely opposing re- 
ceived opinions ; slovenly to extreme dirtiness ; en- 
thusiastic in some points of religion, and a Httle 
knavish withal. We continued there near three 
months, and by that time I could reckon among my 
acquired friends Judge Allen, Samuel Bustill, the 
secretary of the province, Isaac Pearson, Joseph 
Cooper, and several of the Smiths, members of As- 
sembly, and Isaac Decow, the surveyor-general. 
The latter was a shrewd, sagacious old man, who 
told me that he began for himself, when young, by 
wheehng clay for the brickmakers, learned to write 
after he was of age, carried the chain for survey- 
ors, who taught him surveying, and he had now, by 
his industry, acquired a good estate ; and, said he, I 
foresee you will soon work this man out of his busi- 
ness, and make a fortune in it at Philadelphia. He 
had then not the least intimation of my intention to 
set up there or anywhere. These friends u^ere af- 
terward of great use to me, as I occasionally was 
to some of them. They all continued their regard 
for me as long as they Irved. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 75 

Before I enter upon my public appearance in bu- 
siness, it may be well to let you know the then 
state of my mind with regard to my principles and 
morals, that you may see how far those influenced 
the future events of my life. My parents had early 
given me religious impressions, and brought me 
through my childhood piously in the dissenting way. 
But I was scarce fifteen, when, after doubting by 
turns several points, as I found them disputed in the 
different books I read, I began to doubt of the rev- 
elation itself. Some books against Deism fell into 
my hands ; they were said to be the substance of 
the sermons which had been preached at Boyle's 
Lectures. It happened that they wrought an effect 
on me quite contrary to what was intended by 
them ; for the arguments of the Deists, which were 
quoted to be refuted, appeared to me much stronger 
than the refutation ; in short, I soon became a thor- 
ough Deist. My arguments perverted some others, 
particularly Collins and Ralph : but each of these 
having wronged me greatly without the least com- 
punction ; and recollecting Keith's conduct towards 
me (who was another freethinker), and my own to- 
wards Vernon and Miss Read, which at times gave 
me great trouble, I began to suspect that this doc- 
trine, though it might be true, was not very useful. 
My London pamphlet (printed in 1725) — which had 
for its motto these lines of Dryden : 

" Whatever is, is right. Though purblind man 
Sees but a part o' the chain, the nearest link, 
His eye not carrying to that equal beam 
That poises all above—" 

and which, from the attributes of God, his infinite 
wisdom, goodness, and power, concluded that no- 
thing could possibly be wrong in the world ; and 
that vice and virtue were empty distinctions, no 
such things existing — appeared now not so clever a 
performance as I once thought it ; and I doubted 



76 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

whether some error had not insinuated itself unper- 
ceived into my argument, so as to infect all that 
followed, as is common in metaphysical reasonings. 
I grew convinced that truth, sincerity, and integrity y 
in dealings between man and man, were of the ut- 
most importance to the felicity of life ; and I formed 
"Written resolutions (which still remain in my jour- 
nal-book) to practise them ever while I lived. Rev- 
elation had indeed no weight with me as such ; but 
I entertained an opinion that, though certain ac- 
tions might not be bad because they were forbidden 
by it, or good because it commanded them, yet 
probably those actions might be forbidden because 
they were bad for us, or commanded because they 
were beneficial to us, in their own natures, all the 
circumstances of things considered. And this per- 
suasion, with the kind hand of Providence, or some 
guardian angel, or accidental favourable circum- 
stances and situations, or all together, preserved 
me through the dangerous time of youth and the 
hazardous situations I was sometimes in among 
strangers, remote from the eye and advice of my fa- 
ther, free from any wilful gross immorality or in- 
justice that might have been expected from my 
want of rehgion ; 1 say wilful, because the instances 
I have mentioned had something of necessity in 
them, from my youth, inexperience, and the knavery 
of others : I had, therefore, a tolerable character to 
begin the world with ; I valued it properly, and de- 
termined to preserve it. 

We had not been long returned to Philadelphia 
before the new types arrived from London. We 
settled with Keimer, and left him by his consent 
before he heard of it. We found a house to hire 
near the market, and took it. To lessen the rent 
(which was then but twenty-four pounds a year, 
though I have since known it to let for seventy), we 
took in Thomas Godfrey, a glazier, and his family, 
who were to pay a considerable part of it to us, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 77 

and we to board with them. We had scarce open- 
ed our letters and put our press in order, before 
George House, an acquaintance of mine, brought a 
countryman to us, whom he had met in the street 
inquiring for a printer. All our cash was now ex- 
pended in the variety of particulars we had been 
obhged to procure, and this countryman's five shil- 
lings, being our first fruits, and coming so season- 
ably, gave me more pleasure than any crown I 
have since earned ; and, from the gratitude I felt to- 
wards House, has made me often more ready than 
perhaps I otherwise should have been, to assist 
young beginners. 

There are croakers in every country always bo- 
ding its ruin. Such a one there lived in Philadel- 
phia, a person of note, an elderly man, with a wise 
look and a very grave manner of speaking; his 
name was Samuel Mickle. This gentleman, a 
stranger to me, stopped me one day at my door, 
and asked me if I was the young man who had lately 
opened a new printing-house. Being answered in 
the affirmative, he said he was sorry for me, be- 
cause it was an expensive undertaking, and the ex- 
pense would be lost, for Philadelphia was a sinking 
place ; the people already half bankrupts, or near be- 
ing so ; all the appearances of the country, such as 
new buildings and the rise of rents, being to his cer- 
tain knowledge fallacious ; for they were, in fact, 
among the things that would ruin us. Then he 
gave me such a detail of misfortunes now existing, 
or that were soon to exist, that he left me half 
melancholy. Had I known him before I engaged 
in this business, probably I never should have done 
it. This person continued to live in this decaying 
place, and to declaim in the same strain, refusing 
for many years to buy a house there, because all 
was going to destruction ; and at last I had the 
pleasure of seeing him give five times as much for 
7* 



78 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

one as he might have bought it for when he first be- 
gan croaking. 

I should have mentioned before, that in the au- 
tumn of the preceding year I had formed most of 
my ingenious acquaintance into a club for mutual 
improvement, which we called the Junto ; we met 
on Friday evenings. The rules that I drew up re- 
quired that every member in his turn should pro- 
duce one or more queries on any point of morals, 
politics, or natural philosophy, to be discussed by 
the company ; and once in three months produce 
and read an essay of his own writing, on any sub- 
ject he pleased. Our debates were to be under the 
direction of a president, and to be conducted in the 
sincere spirit of inquiry after truth, without fond- 
ness for dispute* or desire of victory; and to pre- 
vent warmth, all expressions of positiveness in 
opinions or direct contradiction were after some 
time made contraband, and prohibited under small 
pecuniary penalties. 

The first members were Joseph Brientnal, a copi- 
er of deeds for the scriveners ; a good-natured, 
friendly, middle-aged man, a great lover of poetry, 
reading all he could meet with, and writing some 
that was tolerable ; very ingenious in making little 
knickknackeries, and of sensible conversation- 
Thomas Godfrey^ a self-taught mathematician, 
great in his way, and afterward inventor of what is 
now called Hadley's Quadrant. But he knew little 
out of his way, and was not a pleasing companion ; 
as, like most great mathematicians I have met with, 
he expected universal precision in everything said, 
or was for ever denying or distinguishing upon tri- 
fles, to the disturbance of all conversation ; he soon 
left Hs. 

Nicholas ScuTl, a surveyor, afterward surveyor- 
general, who loved books, and sometimes made a 
few verses. 
William Parsons, bred a shoema;k«r, but loving 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 79 

reading, had acquired a considerable share of math- 
ematics, which he first studied with a view to as- 
trology, and afterward laughed at it; he also be- 
came surveyor-general. 

Wilham Maugridge, joiner, but a most exquisite 
mechanic, and a solid, sensible man. 

Hugh Meredith, Stephen Potts, and George Webb, 
I have characterized before. 

Robert Grace, a young gentleman of some fortune, 
generous, lively, and witty ; a lover of punning and 
of his friends. 

Lastly, Wilham Coleman, then a merchant's clerk, 
about my age, who had the coolest, clearest head, 
the best heart, and the exactest morals of almost 
any man I ever met with. He became afterward a 
merchant of great note, and one of our provincial 
judges. Our friendship continued without interrup- 
tion to his death, upward of forty years ; and the 
club continued almost as long, and was the best 
school of philosophy, morality, and politics that 
then existed in the province ; for our queries (which 
were read the week preceding their discussion) 
put us upon reading with attention on the several 
subjects, that we might speak more to the purpose : 
and here, too, we acquired better habits of conver- 
sation, everything being studied in our rules which 
might prevent our disgusting each other ; hence the 
long continuance of the club, which I shall have 
frequent occasion to speak farther of hereafter. 
But my giving this account of it here is to show 
something of the interest I had, every one of these 
exerting themselves in recommending business to 
us. Brientnal particularly procured us from the 
Quakers the printing of forty sheets of their his- 
tory, the rest being to be done by Keimer; and 
upon these we worked exceeding hard, for the price 
was low. It was a folio, pro pairia size, in pica, 
with long-primer notes. 1 composed a sheet a day, 
and Meredith worked it off at press ; it was often 



80 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

eleven at night, and sometimes later, before 1 had 
finished my distribution for the next day's work; 
for the little jobs sent in by our other friends now 
and then put us back. But so determined I was 
to continue doing a sheet a day of the folio, that 
one night, when, having imposed my forms, I thought 
my day's work over, one of them by accident was 
broken, and two pages reduced to pi, I immediate- 
ly distributed and composed it over again before I 
went to bed ; and this industry, visible to our neigh- 
bours, began to give us character and credit ; par- 
ticularly, I was told, that mention being made of the 
new printing-office at the merchants' every-night 
club, the general opinion was that it must fail, there 
being already two printers in the place, Keimerand 
Bradford; but Dr. Baird (whom you and I saw 
many years after at his native place, St. Andrew's 
in Scotland), gave a contrary opinion : " For the 
industry of that Franklin," said he, " is superior to 
anything I ever saw of the kind ; I see him still at 
work when I go home from the club, and he is at 
work again before his neighbours are out of bed." 
This struck the rest, and we soon after had offers 
from one of them to supply us with stationary ; but, 
as yet, we did not choose to engage in shop busi- 
ness. 

I mention this industry the more particularly and 
the more freely, though it seems to be talking in my 
own praise, tha^ those of my posterity who shall 
read it may know the use of that virtue, when they 
see its effects in my favour throughout this relation. 

George Webb, who had found a female friend that 
lent him wherewith to purchase his time of Keimer, 
now came to offer himself as a journeyman to us. 
We could not then employ him ; but 1 foolishly let 
him know, as a secret, that I soon intended to be- 
gin a newspaper, and might then have work for 
him. My hopes of success, as I told him, were 
founded on this, that the then only newspaper, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 81 

printed by Bradford, was a paltry thing, wretchedly 
managed, no way entertaining, and yet was profit- 
able to him ; I therefore freely thought a good pa- 
per would scarcely fail of good encouragement. I 
requested Webb not to mention it, but he told it to 
Keimer, who immediately, to be beforehand with 
me, published proposals for one himself, on which 
Webb was to be employed. I was vexed at this, 
and to counteract them, not being able to commence 
our paper, I wrote several amusing pieces for Brad- 
ford's paper, under the title of the Busybody, which 
Brientnal continued some months. By this means 
the attention of the public was fixed on that paper^ 
and Keimer's proposals, which we burlesqued and 
ridiculed, were disregarded. He began his paper, 
however, and before carrying it on three quarters 
of a year, with at most only ninety subscribers, he 
offered it me for a trifle ; and I having been ready 
some time to go on with it, took it in hand direct- 
ly, and it proved in a few years extremely profita- 
ble to me. 

I perceive that I am apt to speak in the singular 
number, though our partnership still continued ; it 
may be that, in fact, the whole management of the 
business lay upon me. Meredith was no composi- 
tor, a poor pressman, and seldom sober. My friends 
lamented my connexion with him, but 1 was to 
make the best of it. 

Our first papers made quite a different appearance 
from any before printed in the province ; a better 
type, and better printed ; but some remarks of my 
writing on the dispute then going on between Gov- 
ernor Burnet and the Massachusetts Assembly, 
struck the principal people, occasioned the paper 
and the manager of it to be much talked of, and in 
a few weeks brought them all to be our subscribers. 

Their example was followed by many, and our 
number went on growing continually. This was 
one of the first good effects of my having learned 



82 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

a little to scribble; another was, that the leading 
men, seeing a newspaper now in the hands of those 
who could also handle a pen, thought it convenient 
to oblige and encourage me. Bradford still printed 
the votes, and laws, and other public business. He 
had printed an address of the house to the govern- 
or in a coarse, blundering manner; we reprinted 
it elegantly and correctly, and sent one to every 
member. They were sensible of the difference ; it 
strengthened the hands of our friends in the house ; 
and they voted us their printers for the year en- 
suing. 

Among my friends in the house I must not for- 
get Mr. Hamilton, before mentioned, who was then 
returned from England, and had a seat in it. He 
interested himself for me strongly in that instance, 
as he did in many others afterward, continuing his 
patronage till his death.* 

Mr. Vernon, about this time, put me in mind of 
the debt I owed him, but did not press me. I wrote 
him an ingenuous letter of acknowledgment, craving 
his forbearance a little longer, which he allowed 
me ; as soon as I was able, 1 paid the principal with 
the interest, and many thanks : so that erratum was 
in some degree corrected. 

But now another difficulty came upon me which 
I had never the least reason to expect. Mr. Mere- 
dith's father, who was to have paid for our printing- 
house, according to the expectations given me, was 
able to advance only one hundred pounds currency, 
which had been paid ; and a hundred more was due 
to the merchant, who grew impatient, and sued us 
all. We gave bail, but saw that, if the money could 
not be raised in time, the suit must soon come to 
a judgment and execution, and our hopeful pros- 
pects must with us be ruined, as the press and let- 
ters must be sold for payment, perhaps at half price. 

* 1 afterward obtained for his son five hundred pounds. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 83 

In this distress two true friends, whose kindness I 
have never forgotten, nor ever shall forget while 1 
can remember anything, came to me separately, un- 
known to each other, and without any application 
from me, offered each of them to advance me all 
the money that should be necessary to enable me 
to take the whole business upon myself, if that 
should be practicable ; but they did not like my con- 
tinuing the partnership with Meredith, who, as they 
said, was often seen drunk in the street, playing at 
low games in alehouses much to our discredit ; these 
two friends were William Coleman and Robert Grace. 
I told them I could not propose a separation while 
any prospect remained of the Merediths fulfilling 
their part of our agreement, because 1 thought my- 
self under great obligations to them for what they 
had done and would do if they could : but if they 
finally failed in their performance, and our partner- 
ship must be dissolved, I should then think myself 
at liberty to accept the assistance of my friends : 
thus the matter rested for some time ; when I said 
to my partner, perhaps your father is dissatisfied at 
the part you have undertaken in this affair of ours, 
and is unwilling to advance for you and me what 
he would for you 1 If that is the case, tell me, and 
I will resign the whole to you, and go about my 
business. No, said he, my father has really been 
disappointed, and is really unable ; and I am un- 
willing to distress him farther. I see this is a busi- 
ness I am not fit for. I was bred a farmer, and it 
was a folly in me to come to town and put myself, 
at thirty years of age, an apprentice to learn a new 
trade. Many of our Welsh people are going to 
settle in North Carolina, where land is cheap. I 
am inclined to go with them, and follow my old em- 
ployment : you may find friends to assist you : if 
you will take the debts of the company upon you, 
return to my father the hundred pounds he has ad- 
vanced, pay my little personal debts, and give me 



84 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

thirty pounds and a new saddle, I will relinqnish 
the partnership, and leave the whole in your hands. 
I agreed to this proposal; it was drawn up in wri- 
ting, signed and sealed immediately. I gave him 
what he demanded, and he went soon after to Caro- 
lina; whence he sent me, next year, two long let- 
ters, containing the best account that had been giv- 
en of that country, the climate, the soil, husbandry, 
&c., for in those matters he was very judicious : I 
printed them in the papers, and they gave great sat- 
isfaction to the public. 

As soon as he was gone I recurred to my two 
friends ; and because I would not give an unkind 
preference to either, I took half what each had of- 
fered, and I wanted, of one, and half of the other; 
paid off the company's debts, and went on with the 
business in my own name, advertising that the 
partnership was dissolved. I think this was in or 
about the year 1729. 

About this time there was a cry among the peo- 
ple for more paper money ; only fifteeen thousand 
pounds being extant in the province, and that soon 
to be sunk. The wealth)'^ inhabitants opposed any 
addition, being against all currency, from the ap- 
prehension that it would depreciate, as it had done 
in New-England, to the injury of all creditors. We 
had discussed this point in our junto, where I 
was on the side of an addition; being persuaded 
that the first small sum, struck in 1723, had done 
much good by increasing the trade, employment, 
and number of inhabitants in the province ; since I 
now saw all the old houses inhabited, and many 
new ones building: whereas I remembered well, 
when I first walked about the streets of Philadel- 
phia (eating my roll), I saw many of the houses in 
Walnut-street, between Second and Front streets, 
with bills on their doors " to he let ;" and many, 
likewise, in Chestnut-street and other streets, 
which made me think the inhabitants of the city 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 85 

were one after another deserting it. Our debates 
possessed me so fully of the subject, that I wrote 
and printed an anonymous pamphlet on it, entitled, 
*' The Nature and Necessity of a Paper Currency.^'' 
It was well received by the common people in gen- 
eral, but the rich men disliked it, for it increased 
and strengthened the clamour for more money ; and 
they happening to have no writers among them that 
were able to answer it, their opposition slackened, 
and the point was carried by a majority in the house. 
My friends there, who considered 1 had been of 
some service, thought fit to reward me by employ- 
ing me in printing the money ; a very profitable 
job, and a great help to me ; this was another ad- 
vantage gained by my being able to write. 

The utility of this currency became by time and 
experience so evident, that the principles upon 
which it was founded were never afterward much 
disputed ; so that it grew soon to fifty-five thousand 
pounds ; and in 1739, to eighty thousand pounds, 
trade, building, and inhabitants all the while in- 
creasing : though I now think there are limits be- 
yond which the quantity may be hurtful. 

I soon after obtained, through my friend Hamilton, 
the printing of the Newcastle paper money, another 
profitable job, as I then thought it, small things ap- 
pearing great to those in small circumstances : and 
these to me were really great advantages, as they 
were great encouragements. Mr. Hamilton pro- 
cured me also the printing of the laws and votes of 
that government, which continued in my hands as 
long as I followed the business. 

I now opened a small stationer's shop : I had in 
it blanks of all kinds, the correctest that ever ap- 
peared among us. I was assisted in that by my 
friend Breintnal : I had also paper, parchment, chap- 
men's books, &c. One Whitemash, a compositor I 
had known in London, an excellent workman, now 
came to me, and worked with me constantly and 

Vol. L— 8 



86 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

diligently; and I took an apprentice, the son of 
Aquilla Rose. 

I began now gradually to pay off the debt I was 
under for the printing-house. In order to secure 
my credit and character as a tradesman, I took care 
not only to be in reality industrious and frugal, but 
to avoid the appearances to the contrary. I dressed 
plain, and was seen at no places of idle diversion: 
I never went out a fishing or shooting : a book, in- 
deed, sometimes debauched me from my work, but 
that was seldom, was private, and gave no scandal : 
and to show that I was not above my business, I 
sometimes brought home the paper I purchased at 
the stores through the streets on a wheelbarrow. 
Thus, being esteemed an industrious, thriving young 
man, and paying duly for what 1 bought, the mer- 
chants who imported stationary solicited my cus- 
tom ; others proposed supplying me with books, and 
I went on prosperously. In the mean time Kei- 
mer's credit and business declining daily, he was at 
last forced to sell his printing-house to satisfy his 
creditors. He went to Barbadoes, and there lived 
some years in very poor circumstances. 

His apprentice, David Harry, whom I had in- 
structed while I worked with him, set up in his place 
at Philadelphia, having bought his materials. I was 
at first apprehensive of a powerful rival in Harry, 
as his friends were very able, and had a good deal 
of interest : I therefore proposed a partnership to 
him, which he, fortunately for me, rejected with 
scorn. He was very proud, dressed like a gentle- 
man, lived expensively, took much diversion and 
pleasure abroad, ran in debt, and neglected his busi- 
ness ; upon which, all business left him ; and, finding 
nothing to do, he followed Keimer to Barbadoes, 
taking the priming-house with him. There this ap- 
prentice employed his former master as a journey- 
man; they quarrelled often, and Harry went contin- 
ually behindhand, and at length was obliged to sell 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 87 

his types and return to country-work in Pennsyl- 
vania. The person who bought them employed 
Keimer to use them, but a few years after he died. 

There remained now no other printer in Philadel- 
phia but the old Bradford; but he was rich and 
easy, did a little in the business by straggling hands, 
but was not anxious about it : however, as he held 
the postoffice, it was imagined he had better oppor- 
tunities of obtaining news, his paper was thought a 
better distributor of advertisements than mine, and 
therefore had many more ; which was a profitable 
thing to him, and a disadvantage to me. For though 
I did indeed receive and send papers by the post, yet 
the public opinion was otherwise ; for what I did send 
was by bribing the riders, who took them privately ; 
Bradford being unkind enough to forbid it, which 
occasioned some resentment on my part, and I 
thought so meanly of the practice, that, when I af- 
terward came into his situation, 1 took care never 
to imitate it. 

I had hitherto continued to board with Godfrey, 
who lived in part of my house with his wife and 
children, and had one side of the shop for his gla- 
zier's business, though he worked little, being al- 
ways absorbed in his mathematics. Mrs. Godfrey 
projected a match for me with a relation's daughter, 
took opportunities of bringing us often together, till 
a serious courtship on my part ensued, the girl being 
in herself very deserving. The old folks encouraged 
me by continual invitations to supper, and by leav- 
ing us together, till at length it was time to explain. 
Mrs. Godfrey managed our little treaty. I let her 
know that I expected as much money with their 
daughter as would pay oft' my remaining debt for the 
printing-house ; which I believe was not then above 
a hundred pounds. She brought me word they had 
no such sum to spare : I said they might mortgage 
their house in the loan office. The answer to this 
after some days was, that they did not approve the 



88 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

match ; that, on inquiry of Bradford, they had been 
informed the printing business was not a profitable 
one ; the types would soon be worn out, and more 
wanted ; that Keimer and David Harry had failed 
one after the other, and 1 should probably soon fol- 
low them ; and, therefore, I was forbidden the house, 
and the daughter shut up. Whether this was a real 
change of sentiment, or only artifice on a supposi- 
tion of our being too far engaged in affection to re- 
tract, and therefore that we should steal a marriage, 
which would leave them at liberty to give or with- 
hold what they pleased, I know not. But I sus- 
pected the motive, resented it, and went no more. 
Mrs. Godfrey brought me afterward some more fa- 
vourable accounts of their disposition, and would 
have drawn me on again ; but I declared absolutely 
my resolution to have nothing more to do with that 
family. This was resented by the Godfreys ; we 
differed, and they removed, leaving me the whole 
house, and I resolved to take no more inmates. But 
this affair having turned my thoughts to marriage, I 
looked round me and made overtures of acquaint- 
ance in other places ; but soon found that the busi- 
ness of a printer being generally thought a poor 
one, I was not to expect money with a wife, unless 
with such a one as I should not otherwise think 
agreeable. 

A friendly correspondence, as neighbours, had 
continued between me and Miss Read's family, who 
all had a regard for me from the time of my first 
lodging in their house. I was often invited there, and 
consulted in their affairs, wherein I sometimes was 
of service. I pitied poor Miss Read's unfortunate 
situation, who was generally dejected, seldom cheer- 
ful, and avoided company : I considered my giddi- 
ness and inconstancy when in London, as in a great 
degree the cause of her unhappiness, though the 
mother was good enough to think the fault more 
her own than mine, as she had prevented our mar- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 89 

rying before I went thither, and persuaded the other 
match in my absence. Our mutual affection was 
revived, but there was now great objections to our 
union; that match was indeed looked upon as in- 
vahd, a preceding wife being said to be living in 
England ; but this could not easily be proved, be- 
cause of the distance, &c., and though there was a 
report of his death, it was not certain. Then, 
though it should be true, he had left many debts 
which his successor might be called upon to pay : 
we ventured, however, over all these difficulties, 
and I took her to wife, Sept. 1, 1730. None of the 
inconveniences happened that we had apprehended; 
she proved a good and faithful helpmate, assisted 
me much by attending to the shop ; we throve to- 
gether, and ever mutually endeavoured to make 
each other happy. Thus I corrected that great er- 
ratum as well as I could. 

About this time our club, meeting, not at a tavern, 
but in a little room of Mr. Grace's set apart for that 
purpose, a proposition was made by me, that, since 
our books were often referred to in our disquisitions 
upon the queries, it might be convenient to us to 
have them all together when we met, that, upon oc- 
casion, they might be consulted ; and by thus club- 
bing our books to a common library, we should, 
while we liked to keep them together, have each 
of us the advantage of using the books of all the 
other members, which would be nearly as beneficial 
as if each owned the whole. It was liked and 
agreed to, and we filled one end of the room with 
such books as we could best spare. The number 
was not so great as we expected; and though they 
had been of great use, yet some inconveniences oc- 
curring for want of due care of them, the collection, 
after about a year, was separated, and each took 
his books home again. 

And now I set on foot my first project of a pub- 
lic nature, that for a subscription library ; I drew up 
S* 



90 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

the proposals, got them put into form by our great 
scrivener, Brockden, and, by the help of my friends 
in the junto, procured fifty subscribers of forty shil- 
lings each to begin with, and ten shillings a year for 
fifty years, the term our company was to continue. 
We afterward obtained a charter, the company be- 
ing increased to one hundred ; this was the mother 
of all the North American subscription libraries, 
now so numerous. It is become a great thing it- 
self, and continually goes on increasmg: these li- 
braries have improved the general conversation of 
the Americans, made the common tradesmen and 
farmers as intelligent as most gentlemen from other 
countries, and perhaps have contributed in some 
degree to the stand so generally made throughout 
the colonies in defence of their privileges. 

[Thus far was written with the intention express- 
ed in the beginning ; and, getting abroad, it excited 
great interest on account of its simplicity and can- 
dour; and induced many applications for a continu- 
ance. What follows was written many years after, 
in compliance with the advice contained in the let- 
ters that follow, and has, therefore, less of a family 
picture and more of a public character. The Amer- 
ican revolution occasioned the interruption.] 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 91 



PART II. 

From Mr. Abel James {received in Paris). 

" My dear and honoured Friend, 

" I have often been desirous of writing to thee, 
but could not be reconciled to the thought that the 
letter might fall into the hands of the British, lest 
some printer or busybody should publish some part 
of the contents, and give our friend pain and myself 
censure. 

" Some time since there fell into my hands, to 
my great joy, about twenty-three sheets in thy own 
handwriting, containing an account of the parent- 
age and hfe of thyself, directed to thy son, ending 
in the year 1730, with which there were notes, like- 
wise in thy writing ; a copy of which I enclose, in 
hopes it may be a means, if thou continued it up to 
a later period, that the first and latter part may be 
put together ; and if it is not yet continued, I hope 
thee will not delay it. Life is uncertain, as the 
preacher tells us ; and what will the world say, if 
kind, humane, and benevolent Ben Franklin should 
leave his friends and the world deprived of so pleas- 
ing and profitable a work ; a work which would be 
useful and entertaining not only to a few, but to mill- 
ions ? The influence writings under that class have 
on the minds of youth is very great, and has no- 
where appeared to me so plain as in our public 
friend's journals. It almost insensibly leads the 
youth into the resolution of endeavouring to become 
as good and eminent as the journalist. Should thine, 
for instance, when published (and I think they could 
not fail of it), lead the youth to equal the industry 
and temperance of thy early youth, what a blessing 



92 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

with that class would such a work be ! I know of 
no character living, nor many of them put together, 
who has so much in his power as thyself to promote 
a greater spirit of industry and early attention to 
business, frugality, and temperance, with the Ameri- 
can youth. Not that I think the work would have 
no other merit and use in the world ; far from it : 
but the first is of such vast importance, that I know 
nothing that can equal it." 

The foregoing letter, and the minutes accompany- 
ing it, being shown to a friend, I received from him 
the following : 

From Mr. Benjamin Vaughan. 

"Paris, January 31, 1783. 
"My dearest Sir, 

" When I had read over your sheets of minutes 
of the principal incidents of your life, recovered for 
you by your Quaker acquaintance, I told you I would 
send you a letter expressing my reasons why I 
thought it would be useful to complete and publish 
it as he desired. Various concerns have, for some 
time past, prevented this letter being written, and I 
do not know whether it was worth any expectation ; 
happening to be at leisure, however, at present, 1 
shall, by writing, at least interest and instruct my- 
self; but as the terms I am inclined to use may 
tend to offend a person of your manners, I shall 
only tell you how I would address any other person 
who was as good and as great as yourself, but less 
diffident I would say to him, sir, I solicit the his- 
tory of your life, from the following motives : 

" Your history is so remarkable, that, if you do 
not give it. somebody else will most certainly give 
it ; and perhaps so as nearly to do as much harm as 
your own management of the thing might do good. 

" It will, morever, present a table of the internal cir- 
cumstances of your country, which will very much 
tend to invite to it settlers of virtuous and manly 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 93" 

minds. And, considering the eagerness with which 
such information is sought by them, and the extent 
of your reputation, I do not know of a more effica- 
cious advertisement than your biography would 
give. 

" All that has happened to you is also connected 
with the detail of the manners and situation of a 
rising people ; and in this respect I do not think that 
the writings of Caesar and Tacitus can be more in- 
teresting to a true judge of human nature and so- 
ciety. 

" But these, sir, are small reasons, in my opinion, 
compared with the chance which your life will give 
for the forming of future great men ; and, in con- 
junction with your Art of Virtue (which you design 
to publish), of improving the features of private char- 
acter, and, consequently, of aiding all happiness, 
both public and domestic. 

" The two works I allude to, sir, will, in particu- 
lar, give a noble rule and example of self-education. 
School and other education constantly proceed upon 
false principles, and show a clumsy apparatus point- 
ed at a false mark ; but your apparatus is simple, 
and the mark a true one ; and while parents and 
young persons are left destitute of other just means 
of estimating and becoming prepared for a reason- 
able course in life, your discovery, that the thing is 
in many a man's private power, will be invaluable ! 

" Influence upon the private character, late in life, 
is not only an influence late in life, but a weak influ- 
ence. It is in youth that we plant our chief habits 
and prejudices ; it is in youth that we take our party 
as to profession, pursuits, and matrimony. In youth, 
therefore, the turn is given ; in youth the education 
even of the next generation is given ; in youth the 
private and public character is determined ; and the 
term of life extending but from youth to age, Hfe 
ought to begin well from youth ; and more especial- 
ly before we take our party as to our principal ob- 
jects. 



94 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

'* But your biography will not merely teach self- 
education, but the education of a wise man ; and the 
wisest man will receive lights and improve his prog- 
ress by seeing detailed the conduct of another wise 
man. And why are weaker men to be deprived of 
such helps, when we see our race has been blunder- 
ing on in the dark, almost without a guide in this 
particular, from the farthest trace of time 1 Show 
then, sir, how much is to be done, both to sons and 
fathers ; and invite all wise men to become like 
yourself, and other men to become wise. 

" When we see how cruel statesmen and war- 
riors can be to the human race, and how absurd dis- 
tinguished men can be to their acquaintance, it will 
be instructive to observe the instances multiply of 
pacific, acquiescing manners ; and to find how com- 
patible it is to be great and domestic ; enviable and 
yet good-humoured. 

" The httle private incidents which you will also 
have to relate, will have considerable use, as we 
want, above all things, rules of prudence in ordinary 
affairs ; and it will be curious to see how you have 
acted in these. It will be so far a sort of key to 
life, and explain many things that all men ought to 
have once explained to them, to give them a chance 
of becoming wise by foresight. 

" The nearest thing to having experience of one's 
own, is to have other people's affairs brought before 
us in a shape that is interesting; this is sure to hap- 
pen from your pen. Your affairs and management 
will have an air of simpUcity or importance that 
will not fail to strike ; and I am convinced you 
have conducted them with as much originahty as if 
you had been conducting discussions in politics or 
philosophy ; and what more worthy of experiments 
and system (its importance and its errors consider- 
ed) than human life ! 

" Some men have been virtuous blindly, others 
have speculated fantastically, and others have been 



IIFB OF FRANKLIN. 99 

shrewd to bad purposes ; but you, sir, I am sure, 
will give, under your hand, nothing but what is at 
the same moment wise, practical, and good. 

"Your account of yourself (for I suppose the 
parallel I am drawing for Dr. Franklin wili hold not 
only in point of character, but of private history) 
will show that you are ashamed of no origin; a 
thing the more important as you prove how little 
necessary all origin is to happiness, virtue, or great- 
ness. 

" As no end, likewise, happens without a means, 
so we shall find, sir, that even you yourself framed 
a plan by which you became considerable ; but, at 
the same time, we may see that, though the event 
is flattering, the means are as simple as wisdom 
could make them ; that is, depending upon nature, 
virtue, thought, and habit. 

"Another thing demonstrated will be the pro- 
priety of every man's waiting for his time for ap- 
pearing upon the stage of the world. Our sensa- 
tions being very much fixed to the moment, we are 
apt to forget that more moments are to follow the 
first, and, consequently, that man should arrange his 
conduct so as to suit the whole of a life. Your attri- 
bution appears to have been applied to your life, and 
the passing moments of it have been enhvened with 
content and enjoyment, instead of being tormented 
with foolish impatience or regrets. Such a conduct 
is easy for those who make virtue and themselves 
their standard, and who try to keep themselves in 
countenance by examples of other truly great men, 
of whom patience is so often the characteristic. 

" Your Quaker correspondent, sir (for here again 
I will suppose the subject of my letter to resemble 
Dr. Franklin), praised your frugality, diligence, and 
temperance, which he considered as a pattern for 
all youth : but it is singular that he should have for- 
gotten your modesty and your disinterestedness, 
without which you never could have waited for your 



96 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

advancement, or found your situation in the mean 
time comfortable , which jr a strong lesson to show 
the poverty of glory, and the importance of regu- 
lating our minds. 

" If this correspondent had known the nature of 
your reputation as well as I do, he would have said, 
your former writings and measures would secure 
attention to your Biography and Art of Virtue ; and 
your Biography and Art of Virtue, in return, would 
secure attention to them. This is an advantage at- 
tendant upon a various character, and which brings 
all that belongs to it into greater play ; and it is the 
more useful, as, perhaps, more persons are at a loss 
for the means of improving their minds and char- 
acters than they are for the time or the inclination 
to do it. 

" But there is one concluding reflection, sir, that 
will show the use of your life as a mere piece of 
biography. This style of writing seems a little 
gone out of vogue, and yet it is a very useful one ; 
and your specimen of it may be particularly ser- 
viceable, as it will make a subject of comparison 
with the lives of various public cutthroats and in- 
triguers, and with absurd monastic self-tormentors 
or vain literary triflers. If it encourages more wri- 
tings of the same kind with your own, and induces 
more men to spend lives fit to be written, it will be 
worth all Plutarch's Lives put together. 

" But being tired of figuring to myself a char- 
acter of which every figure suits only one man in 
the world, without giving him the praise of it, I shall 
end my letter, my dear Dr. Franklin, with a per- 
sonal application to your proper self. 

" I am earnestly desirous, then, my dear sir, that 
you should let the world into the traits of your genu- 
ine character, as civil broils may otherwise tend to 
disguise or traduce it. Considering your great age, 
the caution of your character, and your peculiar 
style of thinking, it is not likely that any one be- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 97 

sides yourself can be sufficiently master of the facts 
of your life or the intentions of your mind. 

" Besides all this, the immense revolution of the 
present period will necessarily turn our attention to- 
wards the author of it ; and when virtuous principles 
have been pretended in it, it will be highly impor- 
tant to show that such have really influenced ; and, 
as your own character will be the principal one to 
receive a scrutiny, it is proper (even for its effects 
upon your vast and rising country, as well as upon 
England and upon Europe) that it should stand re- 
spectable and eternal. For the furtherance of hu- 
man happiness, I have always maintained that it is 
necessary to prove that man is not even at present 
a vicious and detestable animal ; and siill more to 
prove that good management may greatly amend 
him ; and it is for much the same reason that 1 am 
anxious to see the opinion established, that there 
are fair characters among the individuals of the 
race ; for the moment that all men, without excep- 
tion, shall be conceived abandoned, good people 
will cease efforts deemed to be hopeless, and, per- 
haps, think of taking their share in the scramble of 
life, or, at least, of making it comfortable principally 
for themselves. 

" Take then, my dear sir, this work most speedily 
into hand : show yourself good as you are good ; 
temperate as you are temperate ; and, above all 
things, prove yourself as one who, from your in- 
fancy, have loved justice, liberty, and concord, in a 
way that has made it natural and consistent for 
you to act as we have seen you act in the last 
seventeen years of your life. Let Englishmen be 
made not only to respect, but even to love you. 
When they think well of individuals in your native 
country, they will go nearer to thinking well of 
your country; and when your countrymen see 
themselves thought well of by Englishmen, they 
will go nearer to thinking well of England. Extend 

Vol. I.— 9 



98 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

your views even farther ; do not stop at those who 
speak the English tongue, but, after having settled 
BO many points in nature and politics, think of bet- 
tering the whole race of men. 

" As I have not read any part of the life in ques- 
tion, but know only the character that lived it, I 
write somewhat at hazard. I am sure, however, 
that the life, and the treatise I allude to (on the Art 
of Virtue), will necessarily fulfil the chief of my ex- 
pectations ; and still more so if you take up the 
measure of suiting these performances to the sev- 
eral views above stated. Should they even prove 
unsuccessful in all that a sanguine admirer of yours 
hopes from them, you will at least have framed 
pieces to interest the human mind ; and whoever 
gives a feeling of pleasure that is innocent to man, 
has added so much to the fair side of a Hfe other- 
wise too much darkened by anxiety and too much 
injured by pain. 

" In the hope, therefore, that you will listen to 
the prayer addressed to you in this letter, 1 beg to 
subscribe myself, my dear sir, &c., &c., 

" Benj. Vaughan." 



CONTINUATION, 

Begun at Passy, near Paris ^ 1784. 

It is some time since I received the above letters, 
but I have been too busy till now to think of com- 
plying with the request they contain. It might, too, 
be much better done if I were at home among my 
papers, which would aid my memory, and help to 
ascertain dates ; but my return being uncertain, and 
having just now a little leisure, I will endeavour to 
recollect and write what I can : if I live to get home, 
it may there be corrected and improved. 

Not having any copy here of what is already writ- 
ten, I know not whether an account is given of the 



LIFE OP PRANKLIN. 99 

means I used to establish the Philadelphia public 
library, which, from a small beginning, is now be- 
come so considerable, though 1 remember to have 
come down near the time of that transaction (1730). 
I will, therefore, begin here with an account of it, 
which may be struck out if found to have been al- 
ready given. 

At the time I established myself in Pennsylvania, 
there was not a good bookseller's shop in any of the 
colonies to the southward of Boston. In New- York 
and Philadelphia the printers were, indeed, station- 
ers, but they sold only paper, &c., almanacs, ballads, 
and a few common schoolbooks. Those who loved 
reading were obliged to send for their books from 
England : the members of the Junto had each a few. 
We had left the alehouse where we first met, and 
hired a room to hold our club in. I proposed that 
we should all of us bring our books to that room, 
where they would not only be ready to consult in 
our conferences, but become a common benefit, each 
of us being at liberty to borrow such as he wished 
to read at home. This was accordingly done, and 
for some time contented us : finding the advantage 
of this little collection, I proposed to render the 
benefit from the books more common, by commen- 
cing a public subscription library. I drew a sketch 
of the plan and rules that would be necessary, and 
got a skilful conveyancer, Mr. Charles Brockden,to 
put the whole in form of articles of agreement to 
be subscribed ; by which each subscriber engaged 
to pay a certain sum down for the first purchase of 
the books, and an annual contribution for increas- 
ing them. So few were the readers at that time in 
Philadelphia, and the majority of us so poor, that I 
was not able, with great industry, to find more than 
fifty persons (mostly young tradesmen) willing to 
pay down for this purpose forty shillings each, and 
ten shillings per annum ; with this little fund we 
began. The books were imported ; the library was 



100 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

open one day in the week for lending them to sub- 
scribers, on their promissory notes to pay double the 
value if not duly returned. The institution soon 
manifested its utility ; was imitated by other towns 
and in other provinces. The libraries were aug- 
mented by donations ; reading became fashionable ; 
and our people, having no public amusements to di- 
vert their attention from study, became better ac- 
quainted with books, and in a few years were ob- 
served by strangers to be better instructed and more 
intelligent than people of the same rank generally 
are in other countries. 

When we were about to sign the above-mentioned 
articles, which" were to be binding on us, our heirs, 
&c., for fifty years, Mr. Brockden, the scrivener, said 
to us : " You are young men, but it is scarce prob- 
able that any of you will live to see the expiration 
of the term fixed in the instrument." A number of 
us, however, are yet living ; but the instrument was, 
after a few years, rendered null by a charter that 
incorporated and gave perpetuity to the company. 

The objections and reluctances I met with in so- 
liciting the subscriptions, made me soon feel the 
impropriety of presenting one's self as the proposer 
of any useful project that might be supposed to raise 
one's reputation in the smallest degree above that of 
one's neighbours, when one has need of their as- 
sistance to accomplish that project. I therefore put 
myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated 
it as a scheme of a nvmber of friends, who had re- 
quested me to go about and propose it to such as they 
thought lovers of reading. In this way my affairs 
went on more smoothly, and I ever after practised 
it on such occasions, and from my frequent suc- 
cesses can heartily recommend it. The present lit- 
tle sacrifice of your vanity will afterward be amply 
repaid. If it remains a while uncertain to whom 
the merit belongs, some one more vain than your- 
self will be encouraged to claim it, and then evea 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 101 

envy will be disposed to do you justice, by plucking 
those assumed feathers and restoring them to their 
right owner. 

This library afforded me the means of improve- 
ment by constant study, for which I set apart an 
hour or two each day ; and thus I repaired, in some 
degree, the loss of the learned education my father 
once intended for me. Reading was the only amuse- 
ment I allowed myself. I spent no time in taverns, 
games, or frolics of any kind, and my industry in 
my business continued as indefatigable as it was ne- 
cessary. I was indebted for my printing-house, I 
had a young family coming on to be educated, and 
I had two competitors to contend with for business 
who were established in the place before me. My 
circumstances, however, grew daily easier. My 
original habits of frugality continuing, and my father 
having, among his instructions to me when a boy, 
frequently repeated a Proverb of Solomon, " seest 
thou a man diligent in his callings he shall stand before 
kings, he shall not stand before mean men,'''' I thence 
considered industry as a means of obtaining wealth 
and distinction, which encouraged me ; though I 
did not think that I should ever hterally stand be- 
fore kings, which, however, has since happened; 
for I have stood before five, and even had the hon- 
our of sitting down with one (the king of Denmark) 
to dinner. 

We have an English proverb that says, 

" He that would thrive 
Must ask his wife." 

It was lucky for me that 1 had one as much disposed 
to industry and frugality as myself. She assisted 
me cheerfully in my business, folding and stitching 
pamphlets, tending shop, purchasing old linen rags 
for the paper-makers, &c. We kept no idle ser- 
vants ; our table was plain and simple, our furniture 
of the cheapest. For instance, my breakfast was, 
9* 



102 Lirfi OP FRANKLIN. 

for a long time, bread and milk (no tea), and I ate it 
out of a twopenny earthen porringer, with a pewter 
spoon: but mark how luxury will enter families, 
and make a progress in spite of principle ; being 
called one morning to breakfast, I found it in a china 
bowl, with a spoon of silver. They had been bought 
for me without my knowledge by my wife, and had 
cost her the enormous sum of three-and-twenty 
shillings; for which she had no other excuse or 
apology to make, but that she thought her husband 
deserved a silver spoon and china bowl as well as 
any of his neighbours. This was the first appear- 
ance of plate and china in our house, which after- 
ward, in a course of years, as our wealth increased, 
augmented gradually to several hundred pounds in 
value. 

I had been religiously educated as a Presbyterian ; 
but though some of the dogmas of that persuasion 
appeared unintelligible, and I early absented myself 
from their public assembhes (Sunday being my 
studying day), 1 never was without some religious 
principles : 1 never doubted, for instance, the exist- 
ence of a Deity ; that he made the world, and gov- 
erned it by his providence ; that the most acceptable 
service of God was the doing good to man ; that our 
souls are immortal ; and that all crimes will be pun- 
ished, and virtue rewarded, either here or hereafter. 
These I esteemed the essentials of every religion ; 
and being to be found in all the religions we had in 
our country, I respected them all, though with dif- 
ferent degrees of respect, as I found them more or 
less mixed with other articles, which, without any 
tendency to inspire, promote, or confirm morality, 
served principally to divide us, and make us un- 
friendly to one another. This respect to all, with 
an opinion that the worst had some effects, induced 
me to avoid all discourse that might tend to lessen 
the good opinion another might have of his own 
religion; and as our province increased in people, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. lOS 

and new places of worship were continually wanted, 
and generally erected by voluntary contribution, my 
mite for such purpose, whatever might be the sect, 
was never refused. 

Though I seldom attended any public worship, I 
had still an opinion of its propriety and of its utility 
when rightly conducted, and 1 regularly paid my 
annual subscription for the support of the only 
Presbyterian minister or meeting we had in Phila- 
delphia. He used to visit me sometimes as a friend, 
and admonish me to attend his administrations; 
and I was now and then prevailed on to do so ; 
once for five Sundays successively. Had he been 
in my opinion a good preacher, perhaps I might have 
continued, notwithstanding the occasion 1 had for 
the Sunday's leisure in my course of study : but 
his discourses were chiefly either polemic argu- 
ments, or explications of the peculiar doctrines of 
our sect, and were all to me very dry, uninteresting, 
and unedifying, since not a single moral principle 
was inculcated or enforced. I had some years be- 
fore composed a little liturgy or form of prayer for 
my own private use (viz., in 1728), entitled Articles 
of Belief and Acts of Religion. I returned to the 
use of this, and went no more to the pubHc assem- 
blies. My conduct might be blameable, but I leave 
it without attempting farther to excuse it; my pres- 
ent purpose being to relate facts, and not to make 
apologies for them. 

It was about this time I conceived the bold and 
arduous project of arriving at moral perfection; I 
wished to live without committing any fault at any 
time, and to conquer all that either natural inclina- 
tion, custom, or company might lead me into. As 
I knew, or thought I knew, what was right and 
wrong, I did not see why I might not always do the 
one and avoid the other. But I soon found I had 
undertaken a task of more difficulty than I had 
imagined: while my attention was taken up, and 



104 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

care employed in guarding against one fault, I was 
often surprised by another; habit took the advan- 
tage of inattention ; inchnation was sometimes too 
strong for reason. I concluded, at length, that the 
mere speculative conviction, that it was our interest 
to be completely virtuous, was not sufficient to pre- 
vent our slipping ; and that the contrary habits must 
be broken, and good ones acquired and established, 
before we can have any dependance on a steady, 
uniform rectitude of conduct. For this purpose I 
therefore tried the following method. 

In the various enumerations of the moral virtues 
I had met with in my reading, I found the catalogue 
more or less numerous, as different writers included 
more or fewer ideas under the same name. Tem- 
perance, for example, was by some confined to eat- 
ing and drinking ; while by others it was extended 
to mean the moderating every other pleasure, appe- 
tite, inclination, or passion, bodily or mental, even 
to our avarice and ambition. I proposed to myself, 
for the sake of clearness, to use rather more names, 
with fewer ideas annexed to each, than a few names 
with more ideas; and 1 included, under thirteen 
names of virtues, all that at that time occurred to 
me as necessary or desirable, and annexed to each 
a short precept, which fully expressed the extent I 
gave to its meaning. 

These names of virtues, with their precepts, 
were, 

1. Temperance. — Eat not to dulness : drink not 
to elevation. 

2. Silence. — Speak not but what may benefit 
others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. 

3. Order. — Let all your things have their places : 
let each part of your business have its time. 

4. Resolution. — Resolve to perform what you 
ought : perform without fail what you resolve. 

3. Frugality. — Make no expense but to do good 
to others or yourself: i. e., waste nothing. 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 105 

6. Industry. — Lose no time : be always employ- 
ed in something useful : cut off all unnecessary ac- 
tions. 

7. Sincerity. — Use no hurtful deceit : think inno- 
cently and justly : and, if you speak, speak accord- 
ingly. 

8. Justice. — Wrong none by doing injuries, or 
omitting the benefits that are your duty. 

6. Moderation.— Avoid extremes: forbear re- 
senting injuries so much as you think they de- 
serve. 

10. Cleanliness. — Tolerate no uncleanliness in 
body, clothes, or habitation. 

11. Tranquillity. — Be not disturbed at trifles, 
nor at accidents common or unavoidable. 

12. Chastity. 

13. Humility. 

My intention being to acquire the habitude of all 
these virtues, I judged it would be well not to dis- 
tract my attention by attempting the whole at once, 
but to fix it on one of them at a time ; and when I 
should be master of that, then to proceed to an- 
other ; and so on till I should have gone through 
the thirteen : and as the previous acquisition of 
some might facilitate the acquisition of certain oth- 
ers, I arranged them with that view as they stand 
above. Temperance first, as it tends to promote that 
coolness and clearness of head which is so neces- 
sary where constant vigilance was to be kept up, 
and a guard maintained against the unremitting at- 
traction of ancient habits and the force of perpetual 
temptations. This being acquired and established, 
Silence would be more easy ; and my desire being 
to gain knowledge at the same time that I improved 
in virtue; and considering that in conversation it 
was obtained rather by the use of the ear than of 
the tongue, and, therefore, wishing to break a habit 
I was getting into of prattling, punning, and jesting 
(which only made me acceptable to trifling com- 



100 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

pany), I gave Silence the second place. This and 
the next, Order, I expected would allow me more 
time for attending to my project and my studies. 
Resolution, once become habitual, would keep me 
firm in my endeavours to obtain all the subsequent 
virtues. Frugality and Industry, relieving me from 
my restraining debt, and producing affluence and in- 
dependence, would make more easy the practice of 
Sincerity and Justice, &c., &c. Conceiving then, 
that, agreeably to the advice of Pythagoras in his 
Golden Verses, daily examination would be neces- 
sary, I contrived the following method for conduct- 
ing that examination. 

I made a little book, in which I allotted a page 
for each of the virtues. I ruled each page with red 
ink, so as to have seven columns, one for each day 
of the week, marking each column with a letter for 
the day. I crossed these columns with thirteen red 
lines, marking the beginning of each line with the 
first letter of one of the virtues ; on which line, and 
in its proper column, I might mark, by a little black 
spot, every fault I found upon examination to have 
been committed respecting that virtue upon that 
day.* 

* This little book is dated Sunday, lat July, 1773, and is in 
the possession of Mr. W. T. Franklin : a copy was also ra the 
possession of the late B. T. 6 ache. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 



107 



Form of the pages. 

TEMPERANCE. 
Eat not to dulness : drink not to elevation. 





Sun. 


M. 


T. 


w. 


Th. 


F. 1 S. 


Tern. 












1 


Sil. 


* 


* 




* 








Ord. 


* 


•«■ 


* 




* 


* 


* 


Res. 




* 








* 




Fru. 




* 








* 




Ind. 






* 










Sine. 
















Jus. 
















Mod. 
















Clea. 
















Tran. 
















Chas. 
















Hum. 

















I determined to give a week's strict attention to 
each of the virtues successively. Thus, in the first 
week, my great guard was to every the least offence 
against Temperance; leaving the other virtues to 
their ordinary chance, only marking every evening 
the faults of the day. Thus, if in the first week I 
could keep my first line marked T. clear of spots, I 
supposed the habit of that virtue so much strength- 
ened, and its opposite weakened, that I might ven- 
ture extending my attention to include the next, 
and for the following week keep both lines clear of 
spots. Proceeding thus to the last, I could get 
through a course complete in thirteen weeks, and 
four courses in a year. And like him who, having 
a garden to weed, does not attempt to eradicate all 
the bad herbs at once (which would exceed his 
reach and his strength), but works on one of the 
beds at a time, and having accomplished the first, 
proceeds to a second, so I should have (I hoped) 



108 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

the encouraging pleasure of seeing on my pages the 
progress made in virtue, by clearing successively 
my lines of their spots, till, in the end, by a num- 
ber of courses, I should be happy in viewing a clean 
book, after a thirteen week's daily examination. 

This my little book had for its motto these lines 
from Addison's Cato : 

" Here will I hold ; if there's a power above us 
(And that there is, all nature cries aloud 
Through all her works), he must delight in virtue ; 
And that which he delights in must be happy." 

Another from Cicero : 

vitas philosophia dux! O virtutum indagatrix 
et expultrixque vitiorum ! Unus dies bene, et ex 
praeceptis tuis actus, peccanti immortalitati est ante- 
ponendus." 

" Oh Philosophy, guide of life ! Diligent inquirer 
after virtue, and banisher of vice! A single day 
well spent, and as thy precepts direct, is to be pre- 
ferred to an eternity of sin." 

Another from the Proverbs of Solomon, speak- 
ing of wisdom or virtue : 

" Length of days is in her right hand, and in her 
left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways 
of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." 

And conceiving God to be the fountain of wisdom, 
I thought it right and necessary to solicit his as- 
sistance for obtaining it ; to this end I formed the 
following little prayer, which was prefixed to my 
tables of examination, for daily use. 

" O powerful Goodness ! bountiful Father ! mer- 
ciful Guide ! Increase me in that wisdom which 
discovers my truest interest : Strengthen m.y reso- 
lution to perform what that wisdom dictates ! Ac- 
cept my kind offices to thy other children as the 
only return in my power for thy continual favours 
to me." 

1 used also, sometimes, a little prayer which I 
took from Thomson's Poems, viz., 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 109 

" Father of light and life, thou God supreme ! 
Oh teach me what is good ; teach me thyself! 
Save me from folly, vanity, and vice, 
From every low pursuit ; and fill my soul 
With knowledge, conscious peace, and virtue pure; 
Sacred, substantial, never-fading bliss!" 

The precept of Order, requiring that every part of 
my business should have its allotted time, one page in 
my little book contained the following scheme of 
employment for the twenty-four hours of a natural 
day. 

SCHEME. 

Houri. 

Morning. ( \ Rise, wash, and address Powerful 

The Question, J 5 [^Goodness! Contrive day's business, and 

What good shall ] 6 ( take the resolution of the day ; prose- 

I do this day ? ^ 7 ) cute the present study, and breakfast. 

8^ 
9' 
10 



, I Work. 



,> 5 12 > Read, or look over my accounts, and 

■^'«»»- \ l}dine. 

f 2^ 

Afternoon. ^ ^ ^Work. 

I 5J 

Th^^o'^ ] 7^t P"' *^^"^^ ^" ^^^^^ V^^^^^s. Supper, 
ixru ju "a o > music, or diversion, or conversa'tion. 

rdonefolyr" 1 9'/^— t.on of the day. 

cm 
1 11 1 

Night. I 1 > Sleep. 
I 21 
I 3| 

I entered upon the execution of this plan for 
self-examination, and continued it, with occasional 
intermissions, for some time. I was surprised to 
find myself so much fuller of faults than I had 

Vol. L— 10 



110 LIFE OF FRAJSNLIN. 

imagined ; but I had the satisfaction of seeing them 
diminish. To avoid the trouble of renewing now 
and then my hltle book, which, by scraping out the 
marks on the paper of old faults to make room for 
new ones in a new course, became full of holes, I 
transferred my tables and precepts to the ivory 
leaves of a memorandum book, on which the lines 
were drawn with red ink, that made a durable stain ; 
and on those lines I marked my faults with a black 
lead pencil ; which marks I could easily wipe out 
with a wet sponge. After a while I went through 
one course only in a year ; and afterward only one 
in several years ; till at length I omitted them en- 
tirely, being employed in voyages and business 
abroad, with a multiplicity of affairs that interfered ; 
but I always carried my little book with me. My 
scheme of Order gave me the most trouble ; and I 
found that though it might be practicable where a 
man's business was such as to leave him the dispo- 
sition of his time, that of a journeyman-printer, 
for instance, it was not possible to be exactly ob- 
served by a master, who must mix with the world, 
and often receive people of business at their own 
hours. Order, too, with regard to places for things, 
papers, &c., I found it extremely difficult to acquire. 
I had not been early accustomed to method, and hav- 
ing an exceeding good memory, I was not so sensi- 
ble of the inconvenience attending want of method. 
This article, therefore, cost me much painful atten- 
tion, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I 
made so httle progress in amendment, and had such 
frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give 
up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty 
character in that respect. Like the man who, in 
buying an axe of a smith my neighbour, desired to 
have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge, 
the smith consented to grind it bright for him if he 
would turn the wheel : he turned while the smith 
pressed the broad face of the axe hard and heavily 



LIFE OF FRAKKLIN. Ill 

on the stone, which made the turning of it very fa- 
tiguing. The man came every now and then from 
tlie wheel to see how the work went on ; and at 
length would take his axe as it was, without farther 
grinding. "No," said the smith, " turn on, we shall 
have it bright by-and-by ; as yet 'tis only speckled." 
*' Yes," said the man, " but I think I like a speckled 
axe best,'''' And I believe this may have been the case 
with many, who having, for the want of some such 
means as I employed, found the difficulty of ob- 
taining good and breaking bad habits in other points 
of vice and virtue, have given up the struggle, and 
concluded that " a speckled axe was hest.'^ For 
something that pretended to be reason was every 
now and then suggesting to me, that such extreme 
nicety as I exacted of myself, might be a kind of 
foppery in morals, which, if it were known, would 
make me ridiculous ; that a perfect character might 
be attended with the inconvenience of being envied 
and hated ; and that a benevolent man should allow 
a few faults in himself, to keep his friends in coun- 
tenance. In truth, I found myself incorrigible with 
respect to Order; and, now I am grown old and 
my memory bad, I feel very sensibly the want of it. 
But, on the whole, though I never arrived at the 
perfection I had been so ambitious of obtaining, 
but fell far short of it, yet I was, by the endeavour, 
a better and a happiei man than I otherwise should 
have been if I had not attempted it ; as those who 
aim at perfect writing by imitating the engraved 
copies, though they may never reach the wished-for 
excellence of those copies, their hand is mended by 
the endeavour, and is tolerable while it continues 
fair and legible. 

It may be well my posterity should be informed, 
that to this little artifice, with the blessing of God, 
their ancestor owed the constant felicity of his hfe 
down to the 79th year, in which this is written. 
What reverses may attend the remainder is in the 



112 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

hand of Providence : but if they arrive, the reflec- 
tion on past happiness enjoyed ought to help his 
bearing them with more resignation. To temper- 
ance he ascribes his long-continued health, and what 
is still left to him of a good constitution. To indus- 
try and frugality, the early easiness of his circum- 
stances and acquisition of his fortune, with all that 
knowledge that enabled him to be a useful citizen 
and obtained for him some degree of reputation 
among the learned. To sincerity and justice, the con- 
fidence of his country, and the honourable employs- 
it conferred upon him : and to the joint influence of 
the whole mass of the virtues, even in the imper- 
fect state he was able to acquire them, all that 
evenness of temper and that cheerfulness in con- 
versation which makes his company still sought for, 
and agreeable even to his young acquaintance : I 
hope, therefore, that some of my descendants may 
follow the example and reap the benefit. 

It will be remarked that, though my scheme was 
not wholly without religion, there was in it no mark 
of any of the distinguishing tenets of any particular 
sect ; I had purposely avoided them ; for being fully 
persuaded of the utility and excellence of my 
method, and that it might be serviceable to people 
in all religions, and intending some time or other to 
publish it, I would not have anything in it that 
would prejudice any one of any sect against it. I 
proposed writing a little comment on each virtue, 
m which I would have shown the advantages of 
possessing it, and the mischiefs attending its oppo- 
site vice ; I should have called my book The Art oj 
Virtue, because it would have shown the means and 
manner of obtaining virtue, which would have dis- 
tinguished it from the mere exhortation to be good, 
that does not instruct and indicate the means ; but 
is like the apostle's man of verbal charity, who, 
without showing to the naked and hungry how or 
where they might get clothes or victuals, only ex- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 113 

horted them to be fed and clothed. James ii., 
15, 16. 

But it so happened that my intention of writing 
and publishing this comment was never fulfilled. I 
had, indeed, from time to time, put down short hints 
of the sentiments, reasonings, &c., to be made use 
of in it, some of which 1 have still by me : but the 
necessary close attention to private business in 
the earlier part of hfe, and public business since, 
have occasioned my postponing it. For it being 
connected in my mind with a great and extensive 
project, that required the whole man to execute, 
and which an unforeseen succession of employs 
prevented my attending to, it has hitherto remained 
unfinished. 

In this piece it was my design to explain and en- 
force this doctrine, that vicious actions are not hurt- 
Jul because they are forbidden, but forbidden because 
they are hurtful; the nature of man alone consider- 
ed ; that it was, therefore, every one's interest to 
be virtuous, who wished to be happy even in this 
world : and I should, from this circumstance (there 
being always in the world a number of rich mer- 
chants, nobility, states, and princes who have need 
of honest instruments for the management of their 
affairs, and such being so rare), have endeavoured to 
convince young persons, that no qualities are so 
likely to make a poor man's fortune as those of 
probity and integrity. 

My list of virtues contained at first but twelve : 
but a Quaker friend having kindly informed me that 
I was generally thought proud ; that my pride show- 
ed itself frequently in conversation ; that I was not 
content with being in the right when discussing any 
point, but was overbearing, and rather insolent (of 
which he convinced me by mentioning several in- 
stances), I determined to endeavour to cure my- 
self, if I could, of this vice or folly among the rest ; 
and I added humility to my list, giving an extensive 
10* 



114 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

meaning to the word. I cannot boast of much suc- 
cess in acquiring the reality of this virtue, but I had 
a good deal with regard to the appearance of it. I 
made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to 
the sentiments of others, and all positive assertion 
of mine own. I even forbid myself, agreeably to 
the old laws of our junto, the use of every word or 
expression in the language that imported a fixed 
opinion; such as certainly, undoubtedly, &c., and I 
adopted, instead of them, I conceive, I apprehend, or 
1 imagine a thing to be so or so ; or it so appears to 
me at present. When another asserted something 
that I thought an error, I denied myself the pleas- 
ure of contradicting him abruptly, and of showing 
immediately some absurdity in his proposition ; and 
in answering 1 began by observing that in certain 
cases or circumstances his opinion would be right, 
but in the present case there appeared, or seemed to 
me, some difference, &c. I soon found the advan- 
tage of this change in my manners ; the conversa- 
tions I engaged in went on more pleasantly. The 
modest way in which I proposed my opinions pro- 
cured them a readier reception and less contradic- 
tion ; I had less mortification when I was found to 
be in the wrong, and I more easily prevailed with 
others to give up their mistakes and join with me 
v^^hen I happened to be in the right. And this 
mode, which I at first put on with some violence to 
natural inclination, became at length easy, and so 
habitual to me, that perhaps for the fifty years past 
no one has ever heard a dogmatical expression es- 
cape me. And to this habit (after my character of 
integrity) I think it principally owing that I had 
early so much weight with my fellow-citizens 
when I proposed new institutions or alterations in 
the old, and so much influence in public councils 
when I became a member : for I was but a bad 
speaker, never eloquent, subject to much hesitation 
in my choice of words, hardly correct in language, 
and yet I generally carried my point. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 115 

In reality, there is, perhaps, no one of our natural 
passions so hard to subdue as pride; disguise it, 
struggle wiUx it, stifle it, mortify it as much as you 
please, it is still alive, and will every now and then 
peep out and show itself; you will see it perhaps 
often in this history. For even if I could conceive 
that I had completely overcome it, I should proba- 
bly be proud of my humility, 

[Here concludes what was written at Passy, near 
Paris.] 



MEMORANDUM. 

/ am now about to write at home {Philadelphia) ^ 
August, 1788, but cannot have the help expected from 
my papers, many of them being lost in the war. I 
have, however, found the following : 

Having mentioned a great and extensive project 
which I had conceived, it seems proper that some 
account should be here given of that project and its 
object. Its first rise in my mind appears in the 
above-mentioned little paper, accidentally preserv- 
ed, viz. : 

Observations on my reading history, in library, 
May 9, 1731. 

" That the great affairs of the world, the wars, 
revolutions, &c., are carried on and effected by 
parties. 

" That the view of these parties is their present 
general interest ; or what they take to be such. 

" That the different views of these different par- 
ties occasion all confusion. 

" That while a party is carrying on a general de- 
sign, each man has his particular private interest in 
view. 

" That, as soon as a party has gained its general 
point, each member becomes intent upon his par- 



116 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

ticular interest, which, thwarting others, breaks that 
party into divisions and occasions more confusion. 

" That few in public affairs act from a mere view 
of the good of their country, whatever they may 
pretend ; and though their actings bring real good 
to their country, yet men primarily considered that 
their own and their country's interest were united, 
and so did not act from a principle of benevolence. 

" Thai fewer still, in pubUc affairs, act with a view 
to the good of mankind. 

" There seems to me at present to be great occa- 
sion for raising a United Party for Virtue, by form- 
ing the virtuous and good men of all nations into a 
regular body, to be governed by suitable good and 
wise rules, which good and wise men may probably 
be more unanimous in their obedience to than com- 
mon people are to common laws. 

" 1 at present think, that whoever attempts this 
aright, and is well qualified, cannot fail of pleasing 
God and of meeting with success. B. F." 

Revolving this project in my mind as to be un- 
dertaken hereafter, when my circumstances should 
afford me the necessary leisure, I put down from 
time to time, on pieces of paper, such thoughts as 
occurred to me respecting it. Most of these are 
lost, but I find one purporting to be the substance of 
an intended creed, containing, as I thought, the es- 
sentials of every known religion, and being free of 
everything that might shock the professors of any 
religion. It is expressed in these words: viz., 

" That there is one God, who made all things. 

" That he governs the world by his providence, 

" That he ought to be worshipped by adoration, 
prayer, and thanksgiving. 

*' But that the most acceptable service to God is 
doing good to man. 

" That the soul is immortal, 

*' And that God will certainly reward virtue and 
punish vice, either here or hereafter." 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 117 

My ideas at that time were, that the sect should 
be begun and spread at first among young and sin- 
gle men only; that each person to be initiated 
should not only declare his assent to such creed, 
but should have exercised himself with the thirteen 
weeks' examination and practice of the virtues, as 
in the before-mentioned model ; that the existence 
of such a society should be kept a secret till it was 
become considerable, to prevent solicitations for 
the admission of improper persons ; but that the 
members should, each of them, search among his 
acquaintance for ingenious, well-disposed youths, 
to whom, with prudent caution, the scheme should 
be gradually communicated. That the members 
should engage to afford their advice, assistance, 
and support to each other in promoting one anoth- 
er's interest, business, and advancement in life : that, 
for distinction, we should be called The Society of 
THE Free and Easy. Free, as being, by the general 
practice and habits of the virtues, free from the do- 
minion of vice ; and particularly by the practice of 
industry and frugality, free from debt, which ex- 
poses a man to constraint, and a species of slavery 
to his creditors. 

This is as much as I can now recollect of the 
project, except that 1 communicated it in part to 
two young men, who adopted it with enthusiasm : 
but my then narrow circumstances, and the neces- 
sity I was under of sticking close to my business, 
occasioned my postponing the farther prosecution 
of it at that time, and my multifarious occupations, 
public and private, induced me to continue postpo- 
ning, so that it has been omitted, till I have no longer 
strength or activity left sufficient for such an enter- 
prise. Though I am still of opinion it was a prac- 
ticable scheme, and might have been very useful, 
by forming a great number of good citizens : and 
I was not discouraged by the seeming magnitude of 
the undertaking, as I have always thought that one 



118 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

man of tolerable abilities may work great changes 
and accomplish great aflairs among mankind, if he 
first forms a good plan ; and, cutting off all amuse- 
ments or other employments that would divert his 
attention, makes the connexion of that same plan 
his sole study and business. 

In 1732 1 first pubhshed my Almanac under the 
name of Richard Saunders ; it was continued by me 
about twenty-five years, and commonly called Poor 
Richard's Almanac. 1 endeavoured to make it both j 
entertaining and useful, and it accordingly came to ' 
be in such demand that I reaped considerable profit 
from it, vending annually near ten thousand. And | 
observing that it was generally read (scarce any i 
neighbourhood in the province being without it), I 
considered it as a proper vehicle for conveying in- 
struction among the common people, who bought 
scarcely any other books, i therefore filled all the i 
little spaces that occurred between the remarkable 
days in the calendar with proverbial sentences, 
chiefly such as inculcated industry and frugality as 
the means of procuring wealth, and thereby secu- 
ring virtue ; it being more difficult for a man in \ 
want to act always honestly, as (to use here one of I 
those proverbs) "i^ is hard for an empty sack to stand ! 
upright." These proverbs, which contained the wis- 
dom of many ages and nations, I assembled and 
formed into a connected discourse, prefixed to the I 
Almanac of 1757 as the harangue of a wise old ] 
man to the people attending an auction : the bring- 
ing all these scattered counsels thus into a focus, 
enabled them to make greater impression. The 
piece, being universally approved, was copied in all 
the newspapers of the American Continent ; reprint- 
ed in Britain on a large sheet of paper, to be stuck 
up in houses ; two translations were made of it in 
French, and great numbers bought by the clergy 
and gentry to distribute gratis among their poor 
parishioners and tenants. In Pennsylvania, as it 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 119 

discouraged useless expense in foreign superfluities, 
some Thought it had its share of influence in pro- 
ducing that growing plenty of money which was 
observable for several years after its pubhcation. 

I considered my newspaper also another means 
of communicating instruction, and in that view fre- 
quently reprinted in it extracts from the Spectator 
and other moral writers ; and sometimes published 
little pieces of mine own, which had been first com- 
posed for reading in our Junto. Of these are a 
Socratic dialogue, tending to prove that, whatever 
might be his parts and abilities, a vicious man could 
not properly be called a man of sense ; and a dis- 
course on self-denial, showing that virtue was not 
secure till its practice became a habitude, and was 
free from the opposition of contrary inclinations : 
these may be found in the papers about the begin- 
ning of 1735. In the conduct of my newspaper I 
carefully excluded all libelling and personal abuse, 
which is of late years become so disgraceful to our 
country. Whenever I was solicited to insert any- 
thing of that kind, and the writers pleaded (as they 
generally did) the liberty of the press, and that a 
newspaper was like a stagecoach, in which any one 
who would pay had a right to a place, my answer 
was. that I would print the piece separately if de- 
sired, and the author might have as many copies as 
he pleased to distribute himself, but that I would 
not take upon me to spread his detraction ; and that, 
having contracted with my subscribers to furnish 
them with what might be either useful or entertain- 
ing, I could not fill their papers with private alter- 
cation, in which they had no concern, without doing 
them manifest injustice. Now, many of our print- 
ers make no scruple of gratifying the malice of in- 
dividuals by false accusations of the fairest char- 
acters among ourselves, augmenting animosity even 
to the producing of duels ; and are, moreover, so in- 
discreet as to print scurrilous reflections on the 



120 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

government of neighbouring states, and even on the 
conduct of our best national allies, which may be 
attended with the most pernicious consequences. 
These things I mention as a caution to young print- 
ers, and that they may be encouraged not to pollute 
the presses and disgrace their profession by such 
infamous practices, but refuse steadily, as they may 
see by my example that such a course of con- 
duct will not, on the whole, be injurious to their in- 
terests. 

In 1733 I sent one of my journeymen to Charles- 
ton, South Carolina, where a printer was wanting. 
I furnished him with a press and letters, on an agree- 
ment of partnership, by which I was to receive one 
third of the profits of the business, paying one third 
of the expense. He was a man of learning, but ig- 
norant in matters of account; and, though he some- 
times made me remittances, I could get no account 
from him, nor any satisfactory state of our partner- 
ship while he lived. On his decease the business 
was continued by his widow, who, being born and 
bred in Holland, where (^as 1 have been informed) 
the knowledge of accounts makes a part of female 
education, she not only sent me as clear a state- 
ment as she could find of the transactions past, but 
continued to account with the greatest regularity 
and exactness every quarter afterward ; and man- 
aged the business with such success, that she not 
only reputably brought up a family of children, but, 
at the expiration of the term, was able to purchase 
of me the printing-house and establish her son in 
it. I mention this affair chiefly for the sake of rec- 
ommending that branch of education for our young 
women, as likely to be of more use to them and 
their children in case of widowhood than either 
music or dancing; by preserving them from losses 
by imposition of crafty men, and enabling them to 
continue, perhaps, a profitable mercantile house, 
with established correspondence, till a son is grown 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 121 

up fit to undertake and go on with it, to the lasting 
advantage and enriching of the family. 

I had begun in 1733 to study languages ; 1 soon 
made myself so much master of the French as to 
be able to read the books in that language with 
ease. I then undertook the Italian: an acquaint- 
ance, who was also learning it, used often to tempt 
me to play chess with him : finding this took up too 
much of the time I had to spare for study, I at 
length refused to play any more, unless on this 
condition, that the victor in every game should 
have a right to impose a task, either of parts of the 
grammar to be got by heart, or in translations, &c., 
which tasks the vanquished was to perform upon 
honour before our next meeting: as we played 
pretty equally, we thus beat one another into that 
language. I afterward, with a little painstaking, 
acquired as much of the Spanish as to read their 
books also. I have already mentioned that I had 
only one year's instruction in a Latin school, and 
that when very young, after which 1 neglected that 
language entirely. But when I had attained an ac- 
quaintance with the French, Italian, and Spanish, I 
was surprised to find, on looking over a Latin Testa- 
ment, that I understood more of that language than 
I had imagined, which encouraged me to apply my- 
self again to the study of it; and I met with the 
more success, as those preceding languages had 
greatly smoothed my way. From these circumstan- 
ces. I have thought there was some inconsistency in 
our common mode of teaching languages. We are 
told that it is proper to begin first with the Latin, 
and, having acquired that, it will be more easy to 
attain those modern languages which are derived 
from it ; and yet we do not begin with the Greek in 
order more easily to acquire the Latin. It is true, 
that if we can clamber and get to the top of a staircase 
without using the steps, we shall more easily gain 
them in descending ; but certainly, if we begin with 

Vol. I.—ll 



122 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

the lowest, we shall with more ease ascend to the 
top ; and I would therefore offer it to the considera- 
tion of those who superintend the education of our 
youth, whether — since many of those who begin 
with the Latin, quit the same after spending some 
years without having made any great proficiency, 
and what they have learned becomes almost use- 
less, so that their time has been lost — it would not 
have been better to have begun with the French, 
proceeding to the Italian and Latin. For though, 
after spending the same time, they should quit the 
study of languages and never arrive at the Latin, 
they would, however, have acquired another tongue 
or two, that, being in modern use, might be service- 
able to them in common life. 

After ten years' absence from Boston, and having 
become easy in my circumstances, I made a jour- 
ney thither to visit my relations, which 1 could not 
sooner afford. In returning, I called at Newport to 
see my brother James, then settled there with his 
printing-house : our former differences were forgot- 
ten, and our meeting was very cordial and affec- 
tionate : he was fast declining in health, and re- 
quested of me that, in case of his death, which he 
apprehended not far distant, I would take home his 
son, then but ten years of age, and bring him up to 
the printing business. This I accordingly perform- 
ed, sending him a few years to school before I took 
him into the office. His mother carried on the busi- 
ness till he was grown up, when I assisted him with 
an assortment of new types, those of his father be- 
ing in a manner worn out. Thus it was that I 
made my brother ample amends for the service I 
had deprived him of by leaving him so early. 

In 1736 I lost one of my sons, a fine boy of four 
years old, by the smallpox, taken in the common 
way. I long regretted him bitterly, and still regret 
that I had not given it to him by inoculation. This 
I mention for the sake of parents who omit that 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 123 

operation, on the supposition that they should never 
forgive themselves if a child died under it ; my ex- 
ample showing that the regret may be the same ei- 
ther way, and, therefore, that the safer should be 
chosen. 

Our club, the Junto, was found so useful, and af- 
forded such satisfaction to the members, that some 
were desirous of introducing their friends, which 
could not well be done without exceeding what we 
had settled as a convenient number, viz., twelve. 
We had, from the beginning, made it a rule to keep 
our institution a secret, which was pretty well ob- 
served ; the intention was to avoid applications of 
improper persons for admittance, some of whom, 
perhaps, we might find it difficult to refuse. I was 
one of those who were against any addition to our 
number; but, instead of it, made in writing a pro- 
posal, that every member, separately, should en- 
deavour to form a subordinate club, with the same 
rules respecting queries, &c., and without inform- 
ing them of the connexion with the Junto. The 
advantages proposed were the improvement of so 
many more young citizens by the use of our insti- 
tutions; our better acquaintance with the general 
sentiments of the inhabitants on any occasion, as 
the junto member might propose what queries we 
should desire, and was to report to the Junto what 
passed in his separate club : the promotion of our 
particular interests in business by more extensive 
recommendation, and the increase of our influence 
in public affairs, and our power of doing good by 
spreading through the several clubs the sentiments 
of the Junto. The project was approved, and every 
member undertook to form his club: but they did 
not all succeed. Five or six only were completed, 
which were called by different names, as the Vine^ 
the Union, the Band, &c. ; they were useful to them- 
selves, and afforded us a good deal of amusement, 
information, and instruction, besides answering, in 



124 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

some degree, our views of influencing the public on 
particular occasions; of which I shall give some 
instances in course of time as they happened. 

My first promotion was my being chosen, in 1736, 
clerk of the General Assembly. The choice was 
made that year without opposition ; but the year 
following, when I was again proposed (the choice, 
like that of the members, being annual), a new mem- 
ber made a long speech against me, in order to fa- 
vour some other candidate. I was, however, cho- 
sen, which was the more agreeable to me, as, be- 
sides the pay for the immediate service of clerk, 
the place gave me a better opportunity of keeping 
up an interest among the members, which secured 
to me the business of printing the votes, laws, paper 
money, and other occasional jobs for the public, that, 
on the whole, were very profitable. I therefore did 
not like the opposition of this new member, who 
vv^as a gentleman of fortune and education, with tal- 
ents that were likely to give him, in time, great in- 
fluence in the house, which, indeed, afterward hap- 
pened. I did not, however, aim at gaining his favour 
by paying any servile respect to him, but after some 
time took this other method. Having heard that he 
had in his library a certain very scarce and curious 
book, I wrote a note to him, expressing my desire 
of perusing that book, and requesting that he would 
do me the favour of lending it to me for a few days. 
He sent it immediately; and I returned it in about 
a week with another note, expressing strongly my 
sense of the favour. When we next met in the 
house, he spoke to me (which he had never done 
before), and with great civility; and he ever after 
manifested a readiness to serve me on all occasions, 
so that we became great friends, and our friendship 
continued to his death. This is another instance of 
the truth of an old maxim I had learned, which 
says, " He that has once done you a kindness will be 
more ready to do you another than he whom you your- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 125 

self have obliged." And it shows how much more 
profitable it is prudently to remove, than to resent, 
return, and continue inimical proceedings. 

In 1737, Colonel Spotsvvood, late governor of Vir- 
ginia, and then postmaster-general, being dissatis- 
fied with his deputy at Philadelphia respecting some 
negligence in rendering, and want of exactness in 
framing, his accounts, took from him his commis- 
sion and offered it to me. I accepted it readily, 
and found it of great advantage ; for, though the 
salary was small, it facilitated the correspondence 
that improved my newspaper, increased the num- 
ber demanded, as well as the advertisements to be 
inserted, so that it came to aflTord me a consider- 
able income. My old competitor's newspaper de- 
clined proportionally, and 1 was satisfied, without 
retailiating his refusal, while postmaster, to permit 
my papers being carried by the riders. Thus he 
suffered greatly from his neglect in due accounting ; 
and I mention it as a lesson to those young men 
who maybe employed in managing affairs for others, 
that they should always render accounts and make 
remittances with great clearness and punctuality. 
The character of observing such a conduct is the 
most powerful of recommendations to new employ- 
ments and increase of business. 

I began now to turn my thoughts to public affairs, 
beginning, however, with small matters. The city 
watch was one of the first things that I conceived 
to want regulation. It was managed by the con- 
stables of the respective wards in turn; the con- 
stable summoned a number of housekeepers to at- 
tend him for the night. Those who chose never to 
attend, paid him six shilHngs a year to be excused, 
which was supposed to go to hiring substitutes, but 
was, in reality, more than was necessary for that 
purpose, and made the constableship a place of prof- 
it; and the constable, for a little drink, often got 
such ragamuiRns about him as a watch that respect- 
11* 



126 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

able hous-ekeepers did not choose to mix with. 
Walking the rounds, too, was often neglected, and 
most of the nights spent in tippling : I thereupon 
wrote a paper, to be read in Junto, representing these 
irregularities, but insisting more particularly on the 
inequality of this six-shilling tax of the constables, 
respecting the circumstances of those who paid it, 
since a poor widow housekeeper, all whose proper- 
ty to be guarded by the watch did not perhaps ex- 
ceed the value of fifty pounds, paid as much as the 
wealthiest merchant who had thousands of pounds 
w^orth of goods in his stores. On the whole, I pro- 
posed, as a more effectual watch, the hiring of proper 
men to serve constantly in the business ; and, as a 
more equitable way of supporting the charge, the 
levying of a tax that should be proportioned to the 
property. This idea, being approved by the Junto, 
was communicated to the other clubs, but as origi- 
nating in each of them ; and though the plan was not 
immediately carried into execution, yet, by prepa- 
ring the minds of the people for the change, it paved 
the way for the law, obtained a few years after, 
when the members of our clubs were grown into 
more influence. 

About this time I wrote a paper (first to be read 
in the Junto, but it was afterward pubhshed) on the 
different accidents and carelessnesses by which 
houses were set on fire, with cautions against them, 
and means proposed of avoiding them. This was 
spoken of as a useful piece, and gave rise to a proj- 
ect, which soon followed it, of forming a company 
for the more ready extinguishing of fires, and mu- 
tual assistance in removing and securing of goods 
when in danger. Associates in this scheme were 
presently found amounting to thirty. Our articles 
of agreement obliged every member to keep always 
in good order and fit for use a certain number of 
leathern buckets, with strong bags and baskets (for 
packing and transporting goods), whidi were to be 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 127 

brought to every fire ; and we agreed about once a 
month to spend a social evening together in dis- 
coursing and communicating such ideas as occurred 
to us upon the subject of fires as might be useful 
in our conduct on such occasions. The utility of 
this institution soon appeared ; and many more de- 
siring to be admitted than we thought convenient 
for one company, they were advised to form an- 
other, which was accordingly done; and thus went 
on one new company after another, till they became 
so numerous as to include most of the inhabitants 
who were men of property ; and now, at the time 
of my writing this (though upward of fifty years 
since its establishment), that which I first formed, 
called the Union Fire Company, still subsists ; though 
the first members are all deceased but one, who is 
older by a year than 1 am. The fines that have 
been paid by members for absence at the monthly 
meetings have been applied to the purchase of fire- 
engines, ladders, fire-hooks, and other useful imple- 
ments for each company ; so that I question whether 
there is a city in the world better provided with the 
means of putting a stop to beginning conflagrations ; 
and, in fact, since these institutions, the city has 
never lost by fire more than one or two houses at 
a time, and the flames have often been extinguished 
before the house in which they began has been half 
consumed. 

In 1739 arrived among us from Ireland the Rev- 
erend Mr. Whitefield, who had made himself re- 
markable there as an itinerant preacher. He was 
at first permitted to preach in some of our churches ; 
but the clergy, taking a dislike to him, soon refused 
him their pulpits, and he was obliged to preach in 
the fields. The multitude of all sects and denomi- 
nations that attended his sermons were enormous, 
and it vi'as a matter of speculation to me (who was 
one of the number) to observe the extraordinary in- 
fluence of his oratory on his hearers, and how much 



128 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

they admired and respected him. It was wonder- 
ful to see the change soon made in the manners of 
our inhabitants. From being thoughtless or indif- 
ferent about rehgion, it seemed as if all the world 
were growing religious, so that one could not walk 
through the town in an evening without hearing 
psalms sung in different families of every street. 
And it being found inconvenient to assemble in the 
open air, subject to its inclemencies, the building of 
a house to meet in was no sooner proposed, and 
persons appointed to receive contributions, than suf- 
ficient sums were soon received to procure the 
ground and erect the building, which was one hun- 
dred feet long and seventy broad ; and the work 
was carried with such spirit as to be finished in a 
much shorter time than could have been expected. 
Both house and ground were vested in trustees, ex- 
pressly for the use of any preacher of any religious 
persuasion who might desire to say something to the 
people at Philadelphia. The design in building not 
being to accommodate any particular sect, but the 
inhabitants in general. 

Mr. Whitefield, on leaving us, went preaching all 
the way through the colonies to Gf orgia. The set- 
tlement of that province had lately been begun; but, 
instead of being made with hardy, industrious hus- 
bandmen, accustomed to labour, the only people fit 
for such an enterprise, it was with families of bro- 
ken shopkeepers and other insolvent debtors ; many 
of indolent and idle habits, taken out of the jails, 
who, being set down in the woods, unqualified for 
clearing land, and unable to endure the hardships of 
a new settlement, perished in numbers, leaving 
many helpless children unprovided for. The sight 
of their miserable situation inspired the benevolent 
heart of Mr. Whitefield with the idea of building an 
orphan-house there, in which they might be support- 
ed and educated. Returning northward, he preach- 
ed up this charity and made large collections, for 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 129 

his eloquence had a wonderful power over the hearts 
and purses of ^is hearers, of which 1 myself was an 
instance. I did not disapprove of the design, but 
as Georgia was then destitute of materials and work- 
men, and it was proposed to send them from Phila- 
delphia at a great expense, I thought it would have 
been better to build the house at Philadelphia, 
and bring the children to it. This 1 advised ; but 
he was resolute in his first project, rejected my 
counsel, and I therefore refused to contribute. I 
happened soon after to attend one of his sermons, 
in the course of which I perceived he intended to 
finish with a collection, and I silently resolved he 
should get nothing from me : I had in my pocket a 
handful of copper-money, three or four silver dol- 
lars, and five pistoles in gold ; as he proceeded I 
began to soften, and concluded to give the copper. 
Another stroke of his oratory made me ashamed of 
that, and determined me to give the silver; and he 
finished so admirably, that I emptied my pocket 
wholly into the collector's dish, gold and all ! At 
this sermon there was also one of our club, who, 
being of my sentiments respecting the building in 
Georgia, and suspecting a collection might be in- 
tended, had, by precaution, eniptied his pockets 
before he came from home ; towards the conclusion 
of the discourse, however, he felt a strong inclina- 
tion to give, and appHed to a neighbour who stood 
oear him to lend him some money for the purpose. 
The request was fortunately made to perhaps the 
only man in the company who had the firmness not 
to be affected by the preacher. His answer was, 
" At any other time, friend Hopkinson, I would lend to 
thee freely ; but not now, for thee seems to me to be out 
of thy right senses.''^ 

Some of Mr. Whitefield's enemies affected to 
suppose that he would apply these collections to 
his own private emolument ; but 1, who was inti- 
mately acquainted with him (being employed in 



130 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

printing his sermons, journals, &c.), never had the 
least suspicion of his integrity, but dPhi to this day 
decidedly of opinion that he was in all his conduct 
a perfectly honest man ; and meihinks my testimony 
in his favour ought to have the more weight, as we 
had no religious connexion. He used, indeed, some- 
times to pray for my conversion, but never had the 
satisfaction of believing that his prayers were heard. 
Ours was a mere civil friendship, sincere on both 
sides, and lasted to his death. 

The last time I saw Mr. Whitefield was in Lon- 
don, when he consulted me about his orphan-house 
concern, and his purpose of appropriating it to the 
establishment of a college. 

He had a loud and clear voice, and articulated his 
words so perfectly that he migl^t be heard and un- 
derstood at a great distance, especially as his audi- 
tors observed the most perfect silence. He preach- 
ed one evening from the top of the courthouse 
steps, which are in the middle of Market-street, and 
on the west side of Second-street, which crosses it 
at right angles. Both streets were filled with his 
hearers to a considerable distance : being among 
the hindmost in Market-street, I had the curiosity 
to learn how far he could be heard, by retiring 
backward down the street towards the river, and I 
found his voice distinct till I came near Front- 
street, when some noise in that street obscured it. 
Imagining then a semicircle, of which my distance 
should be the radius, and that it was filled with au- 
ditors, to each of whom I allowed two square feet, 
I computed that he might well be heard by more 
than thirty thousand. This reconciled me to the 
newspaper accounts of his having preached to 
25,000 people in the fields, and to the history of 
generals haranguing whole armies, of which I had 
sometimes doubted. 

By hearing him often I came to distinguish easily 
between sermons newly composed and those which 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 131 

he had often preached in the course of his travels. 
His delivery of the latter was so improved by fre- 
quent repetition, that every accent, every emphasis, 
every modulation of voice, was so perfectly well- 
turned and well-placed, that, without being inter- 
ested in the subject, one could not help being pleas- 
ed with the discourse ; a pleasure of much the same 
kind with that received from an excellent piece of 
music. This is an advantage itinerant preachers 
have over those who are stationary, as the latter 
cannot well improve their delivery of a sermon by 
so many rehearsals. His writing and printing from 
time to time gave great advantage to his enemies; 
imguarded expressions, and even erroneous opinions 
delivered in preaching, might have been afterward 
explained or qualified, by supposing others that 
might have accompanied them, or they might have 
been denied ; but litera scripta manet — what is writ- 
ten remains : critics attacked his writings violently, 
and with so much appearance of reason as to di- 
minish the number of his votaries and prevent their 
increase. So that I am satisfied that if he had 
never written anything, he would have left behind 
him a much more numerous and important sect; 
and his reputation might in that case have been still 
growing, even after his death ; as there being no- 
thing of his writing on which to found a censure 
and give him a lower character, his proselytes 
would be left at liberty to attribute to him as great 
a variety of excellences as their enthusiastic admi- 
ration might wish him to have possessed. 

My business was now constantly augmenting, and 
my circumstances growing daily easier, my news- 
paper having become very profitable, as being for a 
time almost the only one in this and the neighbour- 
ing provinces. I experienced, too, the truth of the 
observation, " that after getting the first hundred 
pounds it is more easy to get the second ;" money it- 
self being of a prolific nature. 



132 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. , 

The partnership at Carolina having succeeded, I ' 
was encouraged to engage in others, and to pro- 
mote several of my workmen who had behaved 
well, by establishing them with printing-houses in 
different colonies, on the same terms with that in 
Carolina. Most of them did w^ell, being enabled at 
the end of our term (six years) to purchase the 
types of me and go on working for themselves, by 
which means several famihes were raised. Part- 
nerships often finish in quarrels ; but I was happy in 
this, that mine were all carried on and ended ami- 
cably ; owing, I think, a good deal to the precaution 
of having very explicitly settled in our articles every- 
thing to be done by, or expected from, each partner, 
so that there was nothing to dispute, which pre- 
caution I would therefore recommend to all who 
enter into partnership ; for whatever esteem part- 
ners may have for, and confidence in, each other at 
the time of the contract, little jealousies and dis- 
gusts may arise, with ideas of inequaUty in the care 
and burden, business, &c., which are attended often 
with breach of friendship and of the connexion ; 
perhaps with lawsuits and other disagreeable con- 
sequences. 

I had, on the whole, abundant reason to be satis- 
fied with my being established in Pennsylvania; 
there were, however, some things that I regretted, 
there being no provision for defence nor for a com- 
plete education of youth ; no militia, nor any col- 
lege : I therefore, in 1743, drew up a proposal for 
establishing an academy ; and at that time, thinking 
the Rev. Richard Peters, who was out of employ, a 
fit person to superintend such an institution, I com- 
municated the project to him ; but he, having more 
profitable views in the service of the proprietors, 
Avhich succeeded, declined the undertaking: and 
not knowing another at that time suitable for such 
a trust, I let the scheme lie a while dormant. 1 
succeeded better the next year, 1744, in proposing 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 133 

and establishing a Philosophical Society. The paper 
1 wrote for that purpose will be found among my 
writings, if not lost with many others. 

With respect to defence, Spain having been sever- 
al 3'^ears at war against Great Britain, and being at 
length joined by France, which brought us into great 
danger ; and the laboured and long-continued en- 
deavour of our governor, Thomas, to prevail with 
our Quaker assembly to pass a militia law, and 
make other provisions for the security of the prov- 
ince, having proved abortive, 1 proposed to try what 
might be done by a voluntary subscription of the 
people : to promote this, I first wrote and published 
a pamphlet, entitled Plain Truth, in which I stated 
our helpless situation in strong lights, with the ne- 
cessity of a union and discipline for our defence, 
and promised to propose in a iew days an associa- 
tion, to be generally signed for that purpose. The 
pamphlet had a sudden and surprising effect. I was 
called upon for the instrument of association ; hav- 
ing settled the draught of it with a few friends, I 
appointed a meeting of the citizens in the large 
building before-mentioned. The house was pretty 
full ; I had prepared a number of printed copies, 
and provided pens and ink dispersed all over the 
room. I harangued them a little on the subject, 
read the paper, explained it, and then distributed the 
copies, which were eagerly signed, not the least ob- 
jection being made. When the company separa- 
ted and the papers were collected, we found above 
twelve hundred signatures ; and other copies being 
dispersed in the country, the subscribers amounted 
at length to upward of ten thousand These all 
furnished themselves, as soon as they could, with 
arms, formed themselves into companies and regi- 
ments, chose their own officers, and met every 
week to be instructed in the manual exercise and 
other parts of military disciphne. The women, by 
subscriptions among themselves, provided silk col- 

VoL. I.— 12 



134 LIFE OF FRANKLIN* 

lours, which they presented to the companies, paint- 
ed with different devices and mottoes, which I sup* 
plied. The officers of the companies composing 
the Philadelphia regiment, being met, chose me for 
their colonel ; but. conceiving myself unfit, I declined 
that station, and recommended Mr. Lawrence, a 
fine person and a man of influence, who was ac- 
cordingly appointed. I then proposed a lottery to 
defray the expense of building a battery below the 
town, and furnished with cannon : it filled expedi- 
tiously, and the battery was soon erected, the mer- 
lons being framed of logs and filled with earth. We 
bought some old cannon from Boston ; but these not 
being sufficient, we wrote to London for more, so- 
liciting, at the same time, our proprietaries for some 
assistance, though without much expectation of ob- 
taining it< Meanwhile, Colonel Lawrence, Al- 
ien, Abraham Taylor, Esquires, and myself, were 
sent to New- York by the associators, commission- 
ed to borrow some cannon of Governor Clinton. 
He at first refused us peremptorily ; but at a din- 
ner with his council, where there was great drink- 
ing of Madeira wine, as the custom of that place 
then was, he softened by degrees, and said he would 
lend us six. After a few more bumpers he advan- 
ced to ten; and at length he very good-naturedly 
conceded eighteen. They were fine cannon, 18 
pounders, with their carriages, which were soon 
transported and mounted on our batteries, where 
the associators kept a nightly guard while the war 
lasted; and, among the rest, I regularly took my 
turn of duty there as a common soldier. 

My activity in these operations was agreeable to 
the governor and council ; they took me into confi- 
dence, and I was consulted by them in every meas- 
ure where their concurrence was thought useful to 
the assoc^tion. Calling in the aid of religion, I 
proposed to them the proclaiming a fast, to promote 
reformation and implore the blessing of Heaven on 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 135 

our undertaking. They embraced the motion ; but 
as it was the first fast ever thought of in the province, 
the secretary had no precedent from which to draw 
the proclamation. My education in New-England, 
where a fast is proclaimed every year, was here of 
some advantage : I drew it in the accustomed style j 
it was translated into German, printed in both lan- 
guages, and circulated through the province. This 
gave the clergy of the different sects an opportunity 
of influencing their congregations to join in the as- 
sociation, and it would probably have been general 
among all but the Quakers if the peace had not 
soon intervened. 

In order of time, I should have mentioned before, 
that having, in 1742, invented an open stove for the 
better warming of rooms, and, at the same time, sa- 
ving fuel, as the fresh air admitted was warmed in 
entering, 1 made a present of the model to Mr. 
Robert Grace, one of my early friends, who, having 
an iron furnace, found the casting of the plates for 
these stoves a profitable thing, as they were grow- 
ing in demand. To promote that demand, I wrote 
and published a pamphlet, entitled, " An Account of 
the new-invented Pennsylvania Fireplaces; wherein 
their construction and manner of operation is particu- 
larly explained, their advantages above every method of 
warming rooms demonstrated, and all objections that 
have been raised against the use of them answered and 
obviated,'^ &c. This pamphlet had a good effect. 
Governor Thomas was so pleased with the con- 
struction of this stove, as described in it, that he of- 
fered to give me a patent for the sole vending of 
them for a term of years ; but I declined it, from a 
principle which has ever weighed with me on such 
occasions, viz.. That as we enjoy great advantages 
from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an 
opportunity to se)-ve others by any invention of ours ; 
and this we should do freely and generously. 

An ironmonger in London, however, assuming a 



136 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

good deal of my pamphlet, and working it up into his 
own, and making some small change in the ma- 
chine, which rather hurt its operation, got a patent 
for it there, and made, as I was told, a little fortune 
by it. And this is not the only instance of patents 
taken out of my inventions by others, though not 
always with the same success ; which I never con- 
tested, as having no desire of profiting by patents 
myself, and hating disputes. The use of these fire- 
places in very many houses, both here in Pennsyl- 
vania and the neighbouring states, has been, and 
is, a great saving of wood to the inhabitants. 

Peace being concluded, and the association busi- 
ness therefore at an end, I turned my thoughts again 
to the affair of establishing an academy. The first 
step I took was to associate in the design a number 
of active friends, of whom the Junto furnished a good 
part: the next was to write and publish a pamphlet, 
entitled, " Proposals relating to the Education of 
Youth in Pennsylvania^ This I distributed among 
the principal inhabitants gratis : and as soon as 
I could suppose their minds a little prepared by the 
perusal of it, I set on foot a subscription for open- 
ing and supporting an academy ; it was to be paid in 
quotas yearly for five years ; by so dividing it, I 
judged the subscription might be larger; and I be- 
lieve it was so, amounting to no less, if I remember 
right, than five thousand pounds. 

In the introduction to these proposals, I stated 
their publication not as an act of mine, but of some 
public- spirited gentleman; avoiding as much as 1 
could, according to my usual rule, the presenting 
myself to the public as the author of any scheme 
for their benefit. 

The subscribers, to carry the project into imme- 
diate execution, chose out of their number twenty- 
four trustees, and appointed Mr. Francis, then at- 
torney-general, and myself, to draw up constitutions 
for the government of the academy ; which being 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 137 

done and signed, a house was hired, masters en- 
gaged, and the schools opened ; I think in the same 
year, 1749. 

The scholars increasing fast, the house was soon 
found too small, and we were looking out for a 
piece of ground, properly situated, with intent to 
build, when accident threw into our way a large 
house ready built, which, with a few alterations, 
might well serve our purpose : this was the build- 
ing before mentioned, erected by the hearers of Mr. 
Whitefield, and was obtained for us in the following 
manner. 

It is to be noted, that the contributions to this 
building being made by people of different sects, 
care was taken in the nomination of trustees, in 
whom the building and ground were to be vested, 
that a predominance should not be given to any 
sect, lest in time that predominance might be a 
means of appropriating the whole to the use of such 
sect, contrary to the original intention ; it was for 
this reason that one of each sect was appointed ; 
viz., one Church of England man, one Presbyterian, 
one Baptist, one Moravian, &c., who, in case of va- 
cancy by death, were to fill it by election among 
the contributors. The Moravian happened not to 
please his colleagues, and on his death they re- 
solved to have no other of that sect ; the difficulty 
vhen was, how to avoid having two of some other 
sect, by means of the new choice. Several persons 
were named, and for that reason not agreed to : at 
length one mentioned me, with the observation that 
I was merely an honest man, and of no sect at all, 
which prevailed with them to choose me. The en- 
thusiasm which existed when the house was built 
had long since abated, and its trustees had not been 
abl€ to procure fresh contributions for paying the 
ground rent and discharging some other debts the 
building had occasioned, which embarrassed them 
greatly. Bieing now a member of both boards of 
12* 



138 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

trustees, that for the building and that for the acad- 
emy, I had a good opportunity of negotiating with 
both, and brought them finally to an agreement, by 
which the trustees for the building were to cede it 
to those of the academy ; the latter undertaking to 
discharge the debt, to keep for ever open in the 
building a large hall for occasional preachers, ac- 
cording to the original intention, and maintain a 
free school for the instruction of poor children. 
Writings were accordmgly drawn; and on paying 
the debts, the trustees of the academy were put in 
possession of the premises ; and by dividing the 
great and lofty hall into stories, and different rooms 
above and below for the several schools, and pur- 
chasing some additional ground, the whole was soon 
made fit for our purpose, and the scholars removed 
into the building. The whole care and trouble of 
agreeing with the workmen, purchasing materials, 
and superintending the work, fell upon me, and I 
went through it the more cheerfully, as it did not 
then interfere with my private business, having the 
year before taken a very able, industrious, and hon- 
est partner, Mr. David I^all, with whose character 
I was well acquainted, as he had worked for me 
four years ; he took off my hands all care of the 
printing-office, paying me punctually my share of 
the profits. This partnership continued eighteen 
years, successfully for us both. 

The trustees of the academy, after a while, were 
incorporated by a charter from the governor; their 
funds were increased by contributions in Britain, 
and grants of land from the proprietors, to which 
the Assembly has since made considerable addi- 
tion ; and thus was established the present Univer- 
sity of Philadelphia. 1 have been continued one of 
its trustees from the beginning (now near forty 
years), and have had the very great pleasure of see- 
ing a number of the youth who have received their 
education in it distinguished by their improved abil- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 139 

ities, serviceable in public stations, and ornaments 
to their country. 

When I was disengaged myself, as above men- 
tioned, from private business, I flattered myself that, 
by the sufficient though moderate fortune I had ac- 
quired, I had found leisure during the rest of my life 
for philosophical studies and amusements. 1 pur- 
chased all Dr. Spence's apparatus, who had come 
from England to lecture in Philadelphia, and I pro- 
ceeded in my electrical experiments with great 
alacrity ; but the public, now considering me as a 
man of leisure, laid hold of me for their purposes; 
every part of our civil government, and almost at 
the same time, imposing some duty upon me. The 
governor put me into the commission of the peace ; 
the corporation of the city chose me one of the 
common council, and soon after alderman ; and the 
citizens at large elected me a burgess to represent 
them in Assembly; this latter station was the more 
agreeable to me, as I grew at length tired with sit- 
ting there to hear the debates, in which, as clerk, I 
could take no part, and which were often so unin- 
teresting that I was induced to amuse mysolf with 
making magic squares or circles, or anj? thing to 
avoid weariness ; and I conceived my becoming a 
member would enlarge my power of doing good. 
I would not, however, insinuate that my ambition 
M'as not flattered by all these promotions : it cer- 
tainly was ; for, considering my low beginning, they 
were great thinos to me : and they were still more 
pleasing, as being so many spontaneous testimonies 
of the public good opinion, and by me entirely un- 
sohcited. 

The office of justice of the peace I tried a little, 
by attending a few courts and sitting on the bench 
to hear causes ; but finding that more knowledge of 
the common law than I possessed was necessary to 
act in that station with credit, I gradually withdrew 
from it, excusing myself by my being obliged to 



140 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

attend the higher duties of a legislator in the As- 
sembly. My election to this trust was repeated 
every year for ten years, without my ever asking 
any elector for his vote, or signifying either directly 
or indirectly any desire of being chosen. On ta- 
king my seat in the house, my son was appointed 
their clerk. 

The year following, a treaty being to be held with 
the Indians at Carlisle, the governor sent a message 
to the house, proposing that they should nominate 
some of their members, to be joined with some 
members of council, as commissioners for that pur- 
pose. The house named the speaker (Mr. Norris) 
and myself; and, being commissioned, we went to 
Carhsle and met the Indians accordingly. As those 
people are extremely apt to get drunk, and, when so, 
are very quarrelsome and disorderly, we strictly for- 
bade the seUing any hquor to them ; and when they 
complained of this restriction, we told them that, 
if they would continue sober during the treaty, we 
would give them plenty of rum when the business 
was over. They promised this, and they kept their 
promise, because they could get no rum ; and the 
treaty was conducted very orderly, and concluded 
to mutual satisfaction. They then claimed and re- 
ceived the rum ; this was in the afternoon ; they 
were near one hundred men, women, and children, 
and were lodged in temporary cabins, built in the 
form of a square, just without the town. In the 
evening, hearing a great noise among them, the 
commissioners walked to see what was the matter ; 
we found they had made a great bonfire in the mid- 
dle of the square : they were all drunk, men and 
women, quarrelling and fighting. Their dark-col- 
oured bodies, half naked, seen only by the gloomy 
light of the bonfire, running after and beating one 
another with firebrands, accompanied by their hoi*- 
rid yellings, formed a scene the most diabolical that 
could well bo imagined; there was no appeasing 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 141 

the tumult, and we retired to our lodging. At mid- 
night a number of them came thundering at our 
door, demanding more rum, of which we took no 
notice. The next day, sensible they had misbe- 
haved in giving us that disturbance, they sent three 
of their old counsellors to make their apology. 
The orator acknowledged the fault, but laid it upon 
the rum ; and then endeavoured to excuse the rum 
by saying, " The Great Spirit, who made all things, 
made everything for some use, and whatever use he 
designed anything for, that use it should alivays be 
put to: now, when he made rum, he said, 'let Tms 

BE FOR THE INDIANS TO GET DRUNK WITH ;' and it UlUSt 

be so." And, indeed, if it be the design of Provi- 
dence to extirpate these savages, in order to make 
room for the cultivators of the earth, it seems not 
impossible that rum may be the appointed means. 
It has already annihilated all the tribes who formerly 
inhabited the seacoast. 

In 1751, Dn' Thomas Bond, a particular friend of 
mine, conceived the idea of establishing a hospital 
in Philadelphia (a very beneficent design, which has 
been ascribed to me, but was originally and truly 
his) for the reception and cure of poor sick per- 
sons, whether inhabitants of the province or stran- 
gers. He was zealous and active in endeavouring 
to procure subscriptions for it ; but the proposal be- 
ing a novelty in America, and, at first, not well un- 
derstood, he met with but little success. At length 
he came to me with the compliment, that he found 
there was no such a thing as carrying a public-spir- 
ited project through without my being concerned in 
it. " For," said he, " I am often asked by those to 
whom I propose subscribing, Have you consulted 
Franklin on this business ? And what does he think of 
it ? And when I tell them that I have not (suppo- 
sing it rather out of your line), they do not sub- 
scribe, but say, they will consider it.^^ I inquired into 
the nature and probable utility of the scheme, and, 
receiving from him a very satisfactory explanation, 



142 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

I not only subscribed to it myself, but engaged 
heartily in the design of procuring subscriptions 
from others: previous, however, to the solicitation, 
1 endeavoured to prepare the minds of the people, 
by writing on the subject in the newspapers, which 
was my usual custom in such cases, but which Dr. 
Bond had omitted. The subscriptions afterward 
were more free and generous ; but, beginning to flag, 
I saw they would be uisufficient without assistance 
from the Assembly, and therefore proposed to peti- 
tion for it, which was done. The country members 
did nut at first relish the project : they objected that 
it could only be serviceable to the city, and, there- 
fore, the citizens alone should be at the expense of 
it ; and they doubted whether the citizens them- 
selves generally approved of it. My allegation, on 
the contrary, that it met with such approbation as to 
leave no doubt of our being able to raise two thou- 
sand pounds by voluntary donations, they considered 
as a most extravagant supposition, and utterly im- 
possible. On this I formed my plan; and asking 
leave to bring in a bill for incorporating the con- 
tributors according to the prayer of their petition, 
and granting them a blank sum of money, which 
leave was obtained chiefly on the consideration that 
the house could throw the bill out if they did not 
like it, I drew it so as to make the important clause 
a conditional one, viz. : " And be it enacted by the 
authority aforesaid, that when the said contributors 
shall have met and chosen their managers and treas- 
urer, and shall have raised by their contributions a 
capital stock of two thousand pounds value (the 
yearly interest of which is to be applied to the ac- 
commodation of the sick poor in the said hospital, 
and of charge for diet, attendance, advice, and medi- 
cines), and shall make the same appear to the satisfac- 
tion of the Speaker of the Assembly for the time beino^y 
that then it shall and may be lawful for the said 
speaker, and he is hereby required to sign an order 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 143 

on the provincial treasurer, for the payment of two 
thousand pounds, in two yearly payments, to the 
treasurer of the said hospital, to be applied to the 
founding, building, and finishing of the same," 
This condition carried the bill through; for the 
members who had opposed the grant, and now con- 
ceived they might have the credit of being chari- 
table without the expense, agreed to its passage; 
and then, in soliciting subscriptions among the peo- 
ple, we urged the conditional promise of the law as 
an additional motive to give, since every man's do- 
nation would be doubled : thus the clause worked 
both ways. The subscriptions accordingly soon 
exceeded the requisite sum, and we claimed and re- 
ceived the pubhc gift, which enabled us to carry the 
design into execution. A convenient and handsome 
building was soon erected ; the institution has, by 
constant experience, been found useful, and flour- 
ishes to this day ; and I do not remember any of 
my pohtical manoeuvres, the success of which, at the 
time, gave me more pleasure, or wherein, after 
thinking of it, I more easily excused myself for 
having made some use of cunning. 

It was about this time that another projector, the 
Rev. Gilbert Tennent, came to me with a request 
that I would assist him in procuring a subscription 
for erecting a new meeting-house. It was to be for 
the use of a congregation he had gathered among 
the Presbyterians, who were originally disciples of 
Mr. Whitefield. Unwilling to make myself disa- 
greeable to my fellow-citizens by too frequently 
sohciting their contributions, 1 absolutely refused. 
He then desired 1 would furnish him with a list of 
the names of persons I knew by experience to be 
generous and public spirited. 1 thought it would be 
unbecoming in me, after their kind compliance with 
my solicitation, to mark them out to be worried by 
other beggars, and therefore refused to give such a 
list. He then desired I would at least give him ray 



144 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

advice. That I will do, said I; and, in the first 
place, I advise you to apply to all those who you 
know will give something ; next, to those who you 
are uncertain whether they will give anything or 
not, and show them the hst of those who have 
given; and, lastly, do not neglect those who you 
are sure will give nothing, for in some of them you 
may be mistaken. He laughed and thanked me, 
and said he would take my advice. He did so, for 
he asked everybody^ and he obtained a much larger 
sum than he expected, with which he erected the 
capacious and elegant meeting-house that stands in 
Arch-street. 

Our city, though laid out with a beautiful regu- 
larity, the streets large, straight, and crossing each 
other at right angles, had the disgrace of suffering 
those streets to remain long unpaved, and in wet 
weather the wheels of heavy carriages ploughed 
them into a quagmire, so that it was difficult to cross 
them ; and in dry weather the dust was offensive. 
I had lived near what was called the Jersey market, 
and saw, with pain, the inhabitants wading in mud 
while purchasing their provisions. A strip of 
ground down the middle of that market was at 
length paved with brick, so that, being once in the 
market, they had firm footing, but were often over 
their shoes in dirt to get there. By talking and 
writing on the subject, I was at length instrumental 
in getting the streets paved with stone between the 
market and the brick foot-pavement that was on 
the side next the houses. This for some time gave 
an easy access to the market dry shod ; but the rest 
of the street not being paved, whenever a carriage 
came out of the mud upon this pavement, it shook 
off and left its dirt upon it, and it was soon covered 
with mire, which was not removed, the city as yet 
having no scavengers. After some inquiry I found 
a poor industrious man who was willing to under- 
take keeping the pavement clean, by sweeping it 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN 145 

twice a week, carrying off the dirt from before all 
the neighbours' doors, for the sum of sixpence per 
month, to be paid by each house. I then wrote and 
printed a paper, setting forth the advantages to the 
neighbourhood that might be obtained from this 
small expense ; the greater ease in keeping our 
houses clean, so much dirt not being brought in by 
people's feet ; the benefit to the shops by more cus- 
tom, as buyers could more easily get at them ; and 
by not having, in windy weather, the dust blown in 
upon their goods, &c. I sent one of these papers 
to each house, and in a day or two went round to 
see who would subscribe to an agreement to pay 
these sixpences; it was unanimously signed, and, 
for a time, well executed. All the inhabitants of 
the city were delighted with the cleanliness of the 
pavement that surrounded the market, it being a 
convenience to all, and this raised a general desire 
to have all the streets paved, and made the people 
more willing to submit to a tax for that purpose. 
After some time I drew a bill for paving the city and 
brought it into the Assembly. It was just before 
I went to England, in 1757, and did not pass till I 
was gone, and then with an alteration in the mode 
of assessment, which I thought not for the better ; 
but with an additional provision for lighting as well 
as paving the streets, which was a great improve- 
ment. It was by a private person, the late Mr. 
John CHfton, giving a sample of the utihty of lamps, 
by placing one at his door, that the people were 
first impressed with the idea of lighting all the city. 
The honour of this public benefit has also been as- 
cribed to me, but it belongs truly to that gentleman. 
I did but follow his example, and have only some 
merit to claim respecting the form of our lamps, as 
differing from the globe lamps we were at first sup- 
plied with from London. They were found incon- 
venient in these respects: they admitted no air 
below ; the smoke, therefore, did not readily go out 
Vol. I.— 13 



146 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

above, but circulated in the globe, lodged on its in- 
side, and soon obstructed the light they were in- 
tended to afford ; giving, besides, the daily trouble 
of wiping them clean : and an accidental stroke on 
one of them would demolish it, and render it totally 
useless. I therefore suggested the composing them 
of four flat panes, with a long funnel above to draw 
up the smoke, and crevices admitting air below to 
facilitate the ascent of the smoke ; by this means 
they were kept clean, and did not grow dark in a 
few hours, as the London lamps do, but continued 
bright till morning ; and an accidental stroke would 
generally break but a single pane, easily repaired. I 
have sometimes wondered that the Londoners did 
not, from the effect holes in the bottom of the globe- 
lamps used at Vauxhall have in keeping them clean, 
learn to have such holes in their street-lamps. But 
these holes being made for another purpose, viz., to 
communicate flame more suddenly to the wick by 
a little flax hanging down through them, the other 
use of letting in air seems not to have been thought 
of : and, therefore, after the lamps have been lit a 
few hours, the streets of London are very poorly 
illuminated. 

The mention of these improvements puts me in 
mind of one I proposed, when in London, to Dr. 
Fothergill,* who was among the best men I have 
known, and a great promoter of useful projects. I 
had observed that the streets, when dry, were never 
swept, and the light dust carried away ; but it was 
suffered to accumulate till wet weather reduced it 
to mud ; and then, after lying some days so deep 
on the pavement that there was no crossing but in 
paths kept clean by poor people with brooms, it was 
with great labour raked together and thrown up into 
carts open above, the sides of which suffered some 

♦ Fothergill (John), F.R.S., an eminent physician, born in 
1712, at Carr End, in Yorkshire, of Quaker parents, died in 
1780. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 147 

of the slush at every jolt on the pavement to shake 
out and fall ; sometimes to the annoyance of foot- 
passengers. The reason given for not sweeping the 
dusty streets was, that the dust would fly into the 
windows of shops and houses. An accidental oc- 
currence had instructed me how much sweeping 
might be done in a httle time ; I found at my door 
in Craven-street one morning a poor woman sweep- 
ing my pavement with a birch broom ; she appeared 
very pale and feeble, as just come out of a fit of 
sickness. I asked who employed her to sweep 
there ; she said, " Nobody ; but I am poor and in 
distress, and I sweep before gentlefolkses doors, 
and hopes they will give me something." I bid her 
sweep the whole street clean, and I would give her 
a shilhng ; this was at nine o'clock ; at noon she 
came for the shilling. From the slowness I saw at 
first in her working, I could scarcely believe that the 
work was done so soon, and sent my servant to ex- 
amine it, who reported that the whole street was 
swept perfectly clean, and all the dust placed in the 
gutter which was in the middle; and the next rain 
washed it quite away, so that the pavement and 
even the kennel were perfectly clean. I then judg- 
ed that if that feeble woman could sweep such a 
street in three hours, a strong, active man might 
have done it in half the time. And here let me 
remark the convenience of having but one gutter in 
such a narrow street, running down its middle, in- 
stead of two, one on each side, near the footway. 
For where all the rain that falls on a street runs 
from the sides and meets in the middle, it forms 
there a current strong enough to wash away all the 
mud it meets with : but when divided into two 
channels, it is often too weak to cleanse either, and 
only makes the mud it finds more fluid, so that the 
wheels of carriages and feet of horses throw and 
dash it upon the foot pavement (which is thereby 



148 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

rendered foul and slippery), and sometimes splash 
it upon those who are walking. 

Some may think these trifling matters, not worth 
minding or relating ; but when they consider that 
though dust blown into the eyes of a single person 
or into a single shop in a windy day is but of small 
importance, yet the great number of the instances 
in a populous city, and its frequent repetition, gives 
it weight and consequence, perhaps they will not 
censure very severely those who bestow some at- 
tention to affairs of this seemingly low nature. 
Human felicity is produced, not so much by great 
pieces of good fortune that seldom happen, as by 
little advantages that occur every day. Thus, if 
you teach a poor young man to shave himself and 
keep his razor in order, you may contribute more 
to the happiness of his life than in giving him a 
thousand guineas. This sum may be soon spent, 
the regret only remaining of having foolishly con- 
sumed it : but, in the other case, he escapes the fre- 
quent vexation of waiting for barbers, and of their 
sometimes dirty fingers, offensive breaths, and dull 
razors : he shaves when most convenient to him, 
and enjoys daily the pleasure of its being done with 
a good instrument. With these sentiments I have 
hazarded the few preceding pages, hoping they may 
afford hints which some time or other may be use- 
ful to a city I love (having lived many years in it 
very happily), and perhaps to some of our towns in 
America. 

Having been some time employed by the post- 
master-general of America as his comptroller in 
regulating the several offices and bringing the offi- 
cers to account, I was, upon his death in 1753, ap- 
pointed jointly with Mr. William Hu to suc- 
ceed him, by a commission from the postmaster- 
general in England. The American office had hith- 
erto never paid anything to that of Britain ; we 
were to have jC600 a year between us, if we could 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 149 

make that sum out of the profits of the office. To 
do this, a variety of improvements were necessary ; 
some of these were inevitably at first expensive ; 
so that, in the first four years, the office became 
above £900 in debt to us. But it soon after began 
to repay us ; and, before I was displaced by a freak 
of the ministers (of which I shall speak hereafter), 
we had brought it to yield three times as much clear 
revenue to the crown as the postoffice of Ireland. 
Since that imprudent transaction, they have receiv- 
ed from it — not one farthing ! 

The business of the postoffice occasioned my 
taking a journey this year to New-England, where 
the college of Cambridge, of their own motion, pre- 
sented me with the degree of Master of Arts. Yale 
College, in Connecticut, had before made me a sim- 
ilar compliment. Thus, without studying in any 
college, I am to partake of their honours. They 
were conferred in consideration of my improve- 
ments and discoveries in the electric branch of Nat- 
ural Philosophy. 

In 1754, war with France being again apprehend- 
ed, a congress of commissioners from the different 
colonies was, by an order of the lords of trade, to 
be assembled at Albany, there to confer with the 
chiefs of the Six Nations concerning the means of 
defending both their country and ours. Governor 
Hamilton having received this order, acquainted the 
house with it, requesting they would furnish proper 
presents for the Indians, to be given on this occasion ; 
and naming the speaker (Mr. Norris) and myself, to 
join Mr. John Penn and Mr. Secretary Peters, as 
commissioners to act for Pennsylvania. The house 
approved the nomination, and provided the goods 
for the presents, though they did not much like 
treating out of the province ; and we met the other 
commissioners at Albany about the middle of June. 
In our way thither I projected and drew up a plan 
for the union of all the colonies under one goyern- 
13* 



150 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

ment, so far as might be necessary for defence and 
other important general purposes. As we passed 
through New- York, I had there shown my project 
to Mr. James Alexander and Mr. Kennedy, two 
gentlemen of great knowledge in public affairs, and 
being fortified by their approbation, I ventured to 
lay it before the Congress. It then appeared that 
several of the commissioners had formed plans of 
the same kind. A previous question was first ta- 
ken, whether a union should be established, which 
passed in the affirmative unanimously. A commit- 
tee was then appointed, one member from each 
colony, to consider the several plans and report. 
Mine happened to be preferred, and, with a few 
amendments, was accordingly reported. By this 
plan the general government was to be administer- 
ed by a president-general, appointed and supported 
by the crown ; and a grand council, to be chosen by 
the representatives of the people of the several col- 
onies, met in their respective assemblies. The de- 
bates upon it in Congress went on daily, hand in 
hand with the Indian business. Many objections 
and difficulties were started, but at length they were 
all overcome, and the plan was unanimously agreed 
to, and copies ordered to be transmitted to the board 
of trade and to the assemblies of the several prov- 
inces. Its fate was singular: the assemblies did 
not adopt it, as they all thought there was too much 
prerogative in it, and in England it was judged to 
nave too much of the democratic ; the board of trade 
did not approve of it, nor recommend it for the ap- 
probation of his majesty : but another scheme was 
formed, supposed to answer the same purpose bet- 
ter, whereby the governors of the provinces, with 
some members of their respective councils, were to 
meet and order the raising of troops, building of 
forts, &c., and to draw on the treasury of Great 
Britain for the expense, which was afterward to be 
refunded by an act of Parliament laying a tax on 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 151 

America. My plan, with my reasons in support of 
it, is to be found among my political papers that 
were printed. Being the winter following in Bos- 
ton, I had much conversation with Governor Shir- 
ley upon both the plans. Part of what passed be- 
tween us on this occasion may also be seen among 
those papers. The different and contrary reasons 
of dislike to my plan makes me suspect that it was 
really the true medium, and I am still of opinion 
it would have been happy for both sides if it had 
been adopted. The colonies, so united, would have 
been sufficiently strong to defend themselves : there 
would then have been no need of troops from Eng- 
land, of course the subsequent pretext for taxing 
America; and the bloody contest it occasioned 
would have been avoided : but such mistakes are 
not new : history is full of the errors of states and 
princes. 

" Look round the habitable world, how few 
Know their own good, or, knowing it, pursue !" 

Those who govern, having much business on their 
hands, do not generally like to take the trouble of 
considering and carrying into execution new proj- 
ects. The best public measures are, therefore, sel- 
dom adopted from previous wisdom, but forced by the 
occasion. 

The governor of Pennsylvania, in sending it down 
to the Assembly, expressed his approbation of the 
plan "as appearing to him to be drawn up with 
great clearness and strength of judgment, and there- 
fore recommended it as well worthy their closest 
and most serious attention." The house, however, 
by the management of a certain member, took it 
up when I happened to be absent (which I thought 
not very fair), and reprobated it without paying any 
attention to it at all, to my no small mortification. 

In my journey to Boston this year, I met at New- 
York with our new p^overnor^ M** . Morris, just ar- 



152 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

rived there from England, with whom I had been 
before intimately acquainted. He brought a com- 
mission to supersede Mr. Hamilton, who, tired with 
the disputes his proprietary instructions subjected 
him to, had resigned. Mr. Morris asked me if I 
thought he must expect as uncomfortable an admin- 
istration. I said " No ; you may, on the contrary, 
have a very comfortable one, if you will only take 
care not to enter into any dispute with the Assem- 
bly." " My dear friend," said he, pleasantly, " how 
can you advise my avoiding disputes 1 You know 
I love disputing; it is one of my greatest pleasures; 
however, to show the regard 1 have for your coun- 
sel, 1 promise you I will, if possible, avoid them." 
He had some reason for loving to dispute, being 
eloquent, an acute sophister, and, therefore, gener- 
ally successful in argumentative conversation. He 
had been brought up to it from a boy, his father, as 
1 have heard, accustoming his children to dispute 
with one another for his diversion, while sitting at 
table after dinner ; but I think the practice was not 
wise ; for, in the course of my observation, those 
disputing, contradicting, and confuting people are 
generally unfortunate in their aifairs. They get 
victory sometimes, but they never get good-will, 
which would be of more use to them. We parted, 
he going to Philadelphia and I to Boston. In re- 
turning, I met at New- York with the votes of the 
Assembly of Pennsylvania, by which it appeared 
that, notwithstanding his promise to me, he and 
the house were already in high contention; and 
it was a continual battle between them as long as 
he retained the government. I had my share of 
it ; for, as soon as I got back to my seat in the As- 
sembly, I was put on every committee for answer- 
ing his speeches and messages, and by the commit- 
tees always desired to make the draughts. Our 
answers, as well as his messages, were often tart, 
and sometimes indecently abusive ; and as he knew 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 153 

I wrote for the Assembly, one might have imagined 
that, when we met, we could hardly avoid cutting 
throats. But he was so good-natured a man, that 
no personal difference between him and me was 
occasioned by the contest, and we often dined to- 
gether. One afternoon, in the height of this public 
quarrel, we met in the street ; " Franklin," said he, 
" you must go home with me and spend the even- 
ing; I am to have some company that you will 
like ;" and, taking me by the arm, led me to his 
house. In gay conversation after supper, he told 
us jokingly that he much admired the idea of San- 
cho Panza, who, when it was proposed to give him 
a government, requested it might be a government 
of blacks ; as then, if he could not agree with his 
people, he might sell them. One of his friends, 
who sat next to me, said, " Franklin, why do you 
continue to side with those Quakers 1 had you not 
better sell them 1 the proprietor would give you a 
good price." " The governor," said I, " has not yet 
blacked them enough." He, indeed, had laboured 
hard to blacken the Assembly in all his messages, 
but they wiped off his colouring as fast as he laid 
it on, and placed it in return thick upon his own 
face ; so that, finding he was likely to be negrofied 
himself, he, as well as Mr. Hamilton, grew tired of 
the contest and quitted the government. 

These public quarrels were all at bottom owing 
to the proprietaries our hereditary governors ; who, 
when any expense was to be incurred for the de- 
fence of their province, with incredible meanness, 
instructed their deputies to pass no act for levying 
the necessary taxes, unless their vast estates were 
in the same act expressly exonerated ; and they had 
even taken the bonds of these deputies to observe 
such instructions. The assemblies for three years 
held out against this injustice, though constrained to 
bend at last At length Captain Denny, who was 
governor Morris's successor, ventured to disobey 



154 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

those instructions ; how that was brought about I 
shall show hereafter. 

But I am got forward too fast with my story: 
there are still some transactions to be mentioned 
that happened during the administration of Governor 
Morris. 

War being in a manner commenced with France, 
the government of Massachusetts Bay projected an 
attack upon Crown Point, and sent Mr. Quincy to 
Pennsylvania, and Mr. Pownal (afterward Govern- 
or Pownal) to New- York, to solicit assistance. 
As I was in the Assembly, knew its temper, and was 
Mr. Quincy's countryman, he applied to me for my 
influence and assistance : I dictated his address to 
them, which was well received. They voted an aid 
of ten thousand pounds, to be laid out in provisions. 
But the governor refusing his assent to their bill 
(which included this with other sums granted for 
the use of the crown) unless a clause were insert- 
ed exempting the proprietary estate from bearing 
any part of the tax that would be necessary, the 
Assembly, though very desirous of making their 
grant to New-England, were at a loss how to ac- 
complish it. Mr. Quincy laboured hard with the 
governor to obtain his assent, but he was obstinate. 
I then suggested a method of doing the business 
without the governor, by orders on the trustees of 
the loan-office, which, by law, the Assembly had the 
right of drawing. There was, indeed. Utile or no 
money at the time in the office, and therefore I pro- 
posed that the orders should be payable in a year, 
and to bear an interest of five per cent. : with these 
orders I supposed the provisions might easily be 
purchased. The Assembly, with very little hesita- 
tion, adopted the proposal ; the orders were imme- 
diately printed, and I was one of the committee di- 
rected to sign and dispose of them. The fund for 
paying them was the interest of all the paper 
currency then extant in the province upon loaiii 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 155 

together with the revenue arising from the excise, 
which, being known to be more than sufficient, they 
obtained credit, and were not only taken in payment 
for the provisions, but many moneyed people who 
had cash lying by them vested it in those orders, 
which they found advantageous, as they bore inter- 
est while upon hand, and might on any occasion 
be used as money ; so that they were eagerly all 
bought up, and in a few weeks none of them were** 
to be seen. Thus this important affair was by my 
means completed. Mr. Quincy returned thanks to 
the Assembly in a handsome memorial, went home 
highly pleased with the success of his embassy, 
and ever after bore for me the most cordial and af- 
fectionate friendship. 

The British government, not choosing to permit 
the union of the colonies as proposed at Albany, 
and to trust that union with their defence, lest they 
should thereby grow too military and feel their own 
strength (suspicion and jealousies at this time being 
entertained of them), sent over General Braddock 
with two regiments of regular English troops for 
that purpose. He landed at Alexandria, in Virginia, 
and thence marched to Fredericktown, in Mary- 
land, where he halted for carriages. Our Assembly, 
apprehending from some information that he had 
received violent prejudices against them as averse 
to the service, wished me to wait upon him, not as 
from them, but as postmaster-general, under the 
guise of proposing to settle with him the mode of 
conducting, with the greatest celerity and certainty, 
the despatches between him and the governors of the 
several provinces, with whom he must necessarily 
have continual correspondence, and of which they 
proposed to pay the expense. My son accompa- 
nied me on this journey. We found the general 
at Fredericktown, waiting impatiently for the re- 
turn of those whom we had sent through the back 
parts of Maryland and Virginia to collect wagons. 



156 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

i 
I stayed with him several days, dined with him daily, ; 
and had full opportunities of removing his prejudi- 
ces, by the information of what the Assembly had, 
before his arrival, actually done, and were still will- 
ing to do, to facilitate his operations. When I was 
about to depart, the returns of wagons to be obtain- 
ed were brought in, by which it appeared that they 
amounted only to twenty-five, and not all of those 
were in serviceable condition. The general and 
the officers were surprised ; declared the expedi- 
tion was then at an end, being impossible ; and ex- 
claimed against the ministers for ignorantly sending 
them into a country destitute of the means of con- 
veying their stores, baggage, &c., not less than one 
hundred and fifty wagons being necessary. I hap- 
pened to say, I thought it was a pity they had not 
been landed in Pennsylvania, as in that country al- 
most every farmer had his wagon. The general ea- 
gerly laid hold of my words, and said, " Then you, 
sir, who are a man of interest there, can probably 
procure them for us, and I beg you will undertake 
it." I asked what terms were to be offered the ' 
owners of the wagons ; and I was desired to put on ^ 
paper the terms that appeared to me necessary. 
This I did, and they were agreed to ; and a commis- 
sion and instructions accordingly prepared immedi- 
ately. What those terms were will appear in the 
advertisement I published soon as I arrived at Lan- 
caster ; which being, from the great and sudden ef- 
fect it produced, a piece of some curiosity, I shall | 
insert it at length, as follows : 

"ADVERTISEMENT. 

" Lancaster, April 26th, 1753. 
" Whereas, one hundred and fifty wagons, with 
four horses to each wagon, and fifteen hundred sad- 
dle or packhorses, are wanted for the service of his 
majesty's forces, now about to rendezvous at Will's 
Creek ; and his excellency, General Braddock, hav- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 157 

ing been pleased to empower me to contract for the 
hire of the same, I hereby give notice, that I shall 
attend for that purpose at Lancaster from this day 
to next Wednesday evening, and at York from 
next Thursday morning till Friday evening, where 
I shall be ready to agree for wagons and teams, or 
single horses, on the following terms, viz. : 1. That 
there shall be paid for each wagon, with four good 
horses and a driver, fifteen shillings per diem. And 
for each able horse, with a packsaddle or other sad- 
dle and furniture, two shillings per diem. And for 
each able horse without a saddle, eighteen pence 
per diem. 2. That the pay commence from the 
time of their joining the forces at Will's Creek 
(which must be on or before the 20th of May ensu- 
ing), and that a reasonable allowance be paid over 
and above for the time necessary for their travelling 
to Will's Creek and home again after their dis- 
charge. 3. Each wagon and team, and every sad- 
dle or packhorse, is to be valued by indifferent per- 
sons, chosen between me and the owner ; and in 
case of the loss of any wagon, team, or other horse 
in the service, the price, according to such valua- 
tion, is to be allowed and paid. 4. Seven days' pay 
is to be advanced and paid in hand by me to the 
owner of each wagon and team, or horse, at the 
time of contracting, if required ; and the remainder 
to be paid by General Braddock, or by the paymas- 
ter of the army, at the time of their discharge ; or 
from time to time, as it shall be demanded. 5. No 
drivers of wagons or persons taking care of the 
hired horses are, on any account, to be called upon 
to do the duty of soldiers, or be otherwise employ- 
ed than in conducting or taking care of their car- 
riages or horses. 6. All oats, Indian corn, or other 
forage that wagons or horses bring to the camp, 
more than is necessary for the subsistence of the 
horses, is to be taken for the use of the army, and 
a reasonable price paid for the same. 
Vol. I.— U 



158 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

" Note. — My son, William Franklin, is empower- 
ed to enter into like contracts with any person in 
Cumberland county. 

" B. Franklin." 

I received of the general about eight hundred 
pounds, to be disbursed in advance-money to the 
wagon owners, &c. ; but that sum being insufficient, 
I advanced upward of two hundred pounds more ; 
and in two weeks, the one hundred and fifty wag- 
ons, with two hundred and fifty-nine carrying hor- 
ses, were on their march for the camp. The ad- 
vertisement promised payment according to the 
valuation, in case any wagons or horses should be 
lost. The owners, however, alleging they did not 
know General Braddock, or what dependance might 
be had on his promise, insisted on my bond for the 
performance, which I accordingly gave them. 

While I was at the camp, supping one evening 
with the officers of Colonel Dunbar's regiment, he 
represented to me his concern for the subalterns, 
who, he said, were generally not in affluence, and 
could ill afford, in this dear country, to lay in the 
stores that might be necessary in so long a march 
through a wilderness where nothing was to be pur- 
chased. I commiserated their case, and resolved 
to endeavour procuring them some relief. I said 
nothing, however, to him of my intention, but wrote 
the next morning to the committee of Assembly, 
who had the disposition of some public money, 
warmly recommending the case of these officers to 
their consideration, and proposing that a present 
should be sent them of necessaries and refresh- 
ments. My son, who had some experience of a 
camp life and of its wants, drew up a list for me, 
which I enclosed in my letter. The committee ap- 
proved, and used such diligence that, conducted by 
my son, the stores arrived at the camp as soon as 



LIFE or FRANKLIN. 159 

the wagons. They consisted of twenty parcels, 
each containing 

6 lbs. Loaf Sugar, 

6 do. Muscovado do., 

1 do. Green Tea, 

1 do. Bohea do., 

6 do. Ground Coffee, 

6 do. Chocolate, 

1-2 chest best white Biscuit, 

1-2 lb. Pepper, 

1 quart white Vinegar, 

1 Gloucester Cheese, 

1 keg containing 20 lbs. good Butter, 

2 doz. old Madeira Wine, 
2 gallons Jamaica Spirits, 

1 bottle Flour of Mustard, 

2 well-cured Hams, 

1-2 dozen dried Tongues, 

6 lbs. Rice, 

6 do. Raisins. 
These parcels, well packed, were placed on as 
many horses, each parcel, with the horse, being in- 
tended as a present for one officer. They were very 
thankfully received, and the kindness acknowledged 
by letters to me from the colonels of both regi- 
ments, in the most grateful terms. The general, 
too, was highly satisfied with my conduct in procu- 
ring him the wagons, &c., &c., and readily paid my 
account of disbursements ; thanking me repeatedly, 
and requesting my farther assistance in sending pro- 
visions after him. I undertook this also, and was 
busily employed in it till we heard of his defeat ; 
advancing for the service, of my own money, up- 
ward of one thousand pounds sterling, of which I 
sent him an account. It came to his hands, luckily 
for me, a few days before the battle, and he return- 
ed me immediately an order on the paymaster for 
the round sum of one thousand pounds, leaving the 
remainder to the next account. I consider this 



160 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

payment as good luck, having never been able to 
obtain that remainder, of which more hereafter. 

This general was, 1 think, a brave man, and might 
probably have made a figure as a good officer in 
some European war; but he had too much self-con- 
fidence, too high an opinion of the vahdity of reg- 
ular troops, and too mean a one of both Americans 
and Indians. George Croghan, our Indian interpret 
er, joined him on his march with one hundred of 
those people, who might have been of great use to 
his army as guides, scouts, &c., if he had treated 
them kindly ; but he slighted and neglected them, 
and they gradually left him. In conversation with 
him one day, he was giving me some account of his 
intended progress. " After taking Fort Duquesne," 
said he, " I am to proceed to Niagara ; and having 
taken that, to Frontenac, if the season will allow 
time, and 1 suppose it will ; for Duquesne can hard- 
ly detain me above three or four days ; and then I 
see nothing that can obstruct my march to Niaga- 
ra." Having before revolved in my mind the long 
line his army must make in their march by a very 
narrow road, to be cut for them through the woods 
and bushes ; and also what I had read of a former 
defeat of fifteen hundred French who invaded the 
Ilhnois country, I had conceived some doubts and 
some fears for the event of the campaign. But I 
ventured only to say, " To be sure, sir, if you arrive 
well before Duquesne, with the fine troops so well 
provided with artillery, the fort, though completely 
fortified, and assisted with a very strong garrison, 
can probably make but a short resistance. The 
only danger I apprehend of obstruction to your 
march is from the ambuscades of the Indians, who, 
by constant practice, are dexterous in laying and 
executing them : and the slender line, near four 
miles long, which your army must make, may ex- 
pose it to be attacked by surprise in its flanks, and 
to be cut like a thread into several pieces, which, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 161 

from their distance, cannot come up in time to sup- 
port each other." He smiled at my ignorance, and 
replied, " These savages may indeed be a formida- 
ble enemy to your raw American militia ; but upon 
the king's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is 
impossible they should make any impression." I 
was conscious of an impropriety in my disputing 
with a military man in matters of his profession, 
and said no more. The enemy, however, did not 
take the advantage of his army which I apprehend 
its long line of march exposed it to, but let it ad- 
vance without interruption till within nine miles of 
the place ; and then, when more in a body (for it 
had just passed a river, where the front had halted 
till all were come over), and in a more open part of 
the woods than any it had passed, attacked its ad- 
vanced guard by a heavy fire from behind trees and 
bushes ; which was the first intelligence the general 
had of an enemy's being near him. This guard 
being disordered, the general hurried the troops up 
to their assistance, which was done in great confu- 
sion, through wagons, baggage, and cattle ; and 
presently the fire came upon their flank : the offi- 
cers, being on horseback, were more easily distin- 
guished, picked out as marks, and fell very fast; and 
the soldiers were crowded together in a huddle, 
having or hearing no orders, and standing to be shot 
at till two thirds of them were killed; and then, 
being seized with a panic, the remainder fled with 
precipitation. The wagoners took each a horse out 
of his team and scampered ; their example was im- 
mediately followed by others ; so that all the wag- 
ons, provisions, artillery, and stores were left to the 
enemy. The general, being wounded, was brought 
off with difficulty ; his secretary, Mr. Shirley, was 
killed by his side ; and out of eighty-six officers, 
sixty-three were killed or wounded, and seven 
hundred and fourteen men killed out of eleven hun- 
dred. These eleven hundred had been picked men 
14* 



162 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

from the whole army ; the rest had been left be- 
hind with Colonel Dunbar, who was to follow with 
the heavier part of the stores, provisions, and bag- 
gage. The fliers, not being pursued, arrived at Dun- 
bar's camp, and the panic they brought with them 
instantly seized him and all his people. And though 
he had now above one thousand men, and the ene- 
my who had beaten Braddock did not at most ex- 
ceed four hundred Indians and French together, in- 
stead of proceeding and endeavouring to recover 
some of the lost honour, he ordered all the stores, 
ammunition, &c., to be destroyed, that he might 
have more horses to assist his flight towards the 
settlements, and less lumber to remove. He was 
there met with requests from the Governor of Vir- 
nia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, that he would 
post his troops on the frontiers, so as to afford some 
protection to the inhabitants ; but he continued his 
hasty march through all the country, not thinking 
himself safe till he arrived at Philadelphia, where 
the inhabitants could protect him. This whole 
transaction gave us Americans the first suspicion 
that our exalted ideas of the prowess of British 
regular troops had not been well founded. 

In their first march, too, from their landing till 
they got beyond the settlements, they had plunder- 
ed and stripped the inhabitants, totally ruining some 
poor famihes, besides insulting, abusing, and con- 
fining the people if they remonstrated. This was 
enough to put us out of conceit of such defenders, 
if we had really wanted any. How different was 
the conduct of our French friends in 1781, who, 
during a march through the most inhabited part of 
our country, from Rhode Island to Virginia, near 
seven hundred miles, occasioned not the smallest 
complaint for the loss of a pig, a chicken, or even 
an apple ! 

Captain Orme, who was one of the general's 
aidsdecamp, and being grievously wounded, was 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 163 

brought off with him, and continued with him to his 
death, which happened in a few days, told me he 
was totally silent all the first day, and at night only 
said, " Who would have thought it V That he was 
silent again the following day, saying only at last, 
" We shall better know how to deal with them another 
time;'''' and died in a few minutes after. 

The secretary's papers, with all the general's or- 
ders, instructions, and correspondence, falling into 
the enemy's hands, they selected and translated 
into French a number of the articles, which they 
printed, to prove the hostile intentions of the British 
court before the declaration of war. Among these 
I saw some letters of the general to the mmistry, 
speaking highly of the great service I had rendered 
the army, and recommending me to their notice. 
David Hume, who was some years after secretary 
to Lord Hertford when minister in France, and af- 
terward to General Conway when secretary of 
state, told me he had seen among the papers in that 
office letters from Braddock highly recommending 
me. But the expedition having been unfortunate, 
my service, it seems, was not thought of much val- 
ue, for those recommendations were never of any 
use to me. As to rewards from himself, I asked 
only one, which was, that he would give orders to 
his officers not to enlist any more of our bought 
servants, and that he would discharge such as had 
been already enlisted. This he readily granted, and 
several were accordingly returned to their masters 
on my application. Dunbar, when the command 
devolved on him, was not so generous. He being 
at Philadelphia on his retreat, or, rather, flight, I ap- 
plied to him for the discharge of the servants of 
three poor farmers of Lancaster county that he had 
enlisted, reminding him of the late general's orders 
on that head. He promised me that, if the masters 
would come to him at Trenton, where he should be 
in a few days on his march to New- York, he would 



164 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

there deliver their men to them. They accordingly 
were at the expense and trouble of going to Tren- 
ton, and there he refused to perform his promise, 
to their great loss and disappointment. 

As soon as the loss of the wagons and horses was 
generally known, all the owners came upon me for 
the valuation which 1 had given bond to pay. Their 
demands gave me a great deal of trouble : I ac- 
quainted them that the money was ready in the 
paymaster's hands, but the order for paying it must 
first be obtained from General Shirley, and that I 
had applied for it ; but he being at a distance, an 
answer could not soon be received, and they must 
have patience. All this, however, was not sufficient 
to satisfy, and some began to sue me : General 
Shirley at length relieved me from this terrible sit- 
uation, by appointing commissioners to examine the 
claims, and ordering payment. They amounted to 
near twenty thousand pounds, which to pay would 
have ruined me. 

Before we had the news of this defeat, the two 
Doctors Bond came to me with a subscription-paper 
for raising money to defray the expense of a grand 
fireworks, which it was intended to exhibit at a re- 
joicing on receiving the news of our taking Fort 
Duquesne. I looked grave, and said, " It would, I 
thought, be time enough to prepare the rejoicing 
when we knew we should have occasion to rejoice." 
They seemed surprised that I did not immediately 
comply with their proposal. " Why the d — 1," said 
one of them, '■ you surely don't suppose that the 
fort will not be taken ?" " I don't know that it will 
not be taken ; but I know that the events of war are 
subject to great uncertainty." I gave them the 
reasons of my doubting : the subscription was drop- 
ped, and the projectors thereby missed the mortifi- 
cation they would have undergone if the fireworks 
had been prepared. Dr. Bond, on some other oc- 
casion afterward, said that he did not like Frank- 
lin's forebodings. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 165 

Governor Morris, who had continually worried 
the Assembly with message after message, before 
the defeat of Braddock, to beat them into the 
making of acts to raise money for the defence of 
the province, without taxing, among others, the 
proprietary estates, and had rejected all their bills 
for not having such an exempting clause, now 
redoubled his attacks with more hope of success, 
the danger and necessity being greater. The 
Assembly, however, continued firm, believing they 
had justice on their side, and that it would be giv- 
ing up an essential right if they suffered the gov- 
ernor to amend their money-bills. In one of the last, 
indeed, which was for granting fifty thousand pounds, 
his proposed amendment was only of a single word : 
the bill expressed " that all estates, real and per- 
sonal, were to be taxed ; those of the proprietaries 
not excepted." His amendment was, for not read 
only. A small but very material alteration ! How- 
ever, when the news of the disaster reached Eng- 
land, our friends there, whom we had taken care to 
furnish will all the Assembly's answers to the gov- 
ernor's messages, raised a clamour against the pro- 
prietaries for their meanness and injustice in giving 
their governor such instructions ; some going so far 
as to say that, by obstructing the defence of their 
province, they forfeited their right to it. They 
were intimidated by this, sent orders to their re- 
ceiver-general to add five thousand pounds of their 
money to whatever sum might be given by the As- 
sembly for such purpose. This being testified to 
the house, was accepted in lieu of their share of a 
general tax, and a new bill was formed, with an ex- 
empting clause, which passed accordingly. By this 
act I was appointed one of the commissioners for 
disposing of the money, sixty thousand pounds. I 
had been active in modelling the bill and procuring its 
passage, and had, at the same time, drawn one for es- 
tablishing and disciplining a voluntary militia, which 



166 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. ^ 

I carried through the house without much difficul- 
ty, us care was taken in it to leave the Quakers at 
liberty. To promote the association necessary to 
form the militia, I wrote a dialogue stating and an- 
swering all the objections I could think of to such 
a militia, which was printed, and had, as I thought, 
great effect. While the several companies in the 
city and country were forming and learning their 
exercise, the governor prevailed with me to take 
charge of our northwestern frontier, which was in- 
fested by the enemy, and provide for' the defence 
of the inhabitants by raising troops and building a 
line of forts. I undertook this military business, 
though 1 did not conceive myself well qualified for 
it. He gave me a commission, with full powers, 
and a parcel of blank commissions for officers, to be 
given to whom I thought tit. I had but little diffi- 
culty in raising men, having soon five hundred and 
sixty under my command. My son, who had in the 
preceding war been an officer in the army raised 
against Canada, was my aiddecamp, and of great 
use to me. The Indians had burned Gnadenhutten, 
a village settled by the Moravians, and massacred 
the inhabitants ; but the place was thought a good 
situation for one of the forts. In order to march 
thither, I assembled the companies at Bethlehem, 
the chief estabhshment of those people ; I was sur- 
prised to find it in so good a posture of defence ; the 
destruction of Gnadenhutten had made them appre- 
hend danger. The principal buildings were defend- 
ed by a stockade ; they had purchased a quantity 
of arms and ammunition from New- York, and had 
even placed quantities of small paving stones be- 
tween the windows of their high stone houses, for 
their women to throw them down upon the heads 
of any Indians that should attempt to force into 
them. The armed brethren, too, kept watch, and re- 
lieved each other on guard as methodically as in 
any garrison town. In conversation with the bish- 



^ LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 167 

op, Spangenberg, I mentioned my surprise; for, 
knowing that they had obtained an act of parlia- 
ment exempting them from military duties in the 
colonies, I had supposed they were conscientiously 
scrupulous of bearing arms. He answered me, 
"That it was not one of their established princi- 
ples ; but that, at the time of their obtaining that act, 
it was thought to be a principle with many of their 
people. On this occasion, however, they, to their 
surprise, found it adopted by but a few." It seems 
they were either deceived in themselves or deceived 
the parliament; but common sense, aided by pres- 
ent danger, will sometimes be too strong for whim- 
sical opinions. 

It was the beginning of January when w^e set out 
upon this business of building forts ; I sent one de- 
tachment towards the Minisink, with instructions 
to erect one for the security of that upper part of 
the country, and another to the lower part with 
similar instructions ; and I concluded to go myself 
with the rest of my force to Gnadenhutten, where 
a fort was thought more immediately necessary. 
The Moravians procured me five wagons for our 
tools, stores, baggage. &c. Just before we left 
Bethlehem, eleven farmers, who had been driven 
from their plantations by the Indians, came to me 
requesting a supply of firearms, that they might 
go back and bring off their cattle. I gave them 
each a gun with suitable ammunition. We had not 
marched many miles before it began to rain, and it 
continued raining all day ; there were no habitations 
on the road to shelter us till we arrived near night 
at the house of a German, where, and in his barn, 
we were all huddled together as wet as water could 
make us. It was well we were not attacked in our 
march, for our arms were of the most ordinary sort, 
and our men could not keep the locks of their guns 
dry. The Indians are dexterous in contrivances 
for that purpose, whicii we had not. They met 



168 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

that day the eleven poor farmers above mentioned, 
and killed ten of them ; the one that escaped in- 
formed us that his and his companions' guns would 
not go off, the priming being wet with the rain. The 
next day, being fair, we continued our march, and 
arrived at the desolate Gnadenhutten ; there was a 
mill near, round which were left several pine boards, 
with which we soon hutted ourselves; an operation 
the more necessary at that inclement season, as 
we had no tents. Our first work was to bury more 
effectually the dead we found there, who had been 
half interred by the country people ; the next morn- 
ing our fort was planned and marked out, the cir- 
cumference measuring four hundred and fifty-five 
feet, which would require as many palisades to be 
made, one with another, of a foot diameter each. 
Our axes, of which we had seventy, were immedi- 
ately set to work to cut down trees ; and our 
men being dexterous in the use of them, great de- 
spatch was made. Seeing the trees fall so fast, I 
had the curiosity to look at my watch when two 
men began to cut a pine ; in six minutes they had it 
upon the ground, and I found it of fourteen inches di- 
ameter : each pine made three palisades of eighteen 
feet long, pointed at one end. While these were pre- 
paring our other men dug a trench all round of three 
feet deep, in which the palisades were to be plant- 
ed ; and the bodies being taken off our wagons, and 
the fore and hind wheels separated by taking out 
the pin which united the two parts of the perch, we 
had ten carriages, with two horses each, to bring 
the palisades from the woods to the spot. When 
they were set up, our carpenters built a platform of 
boards all round within, about six feet high, for the 
men to stand on when to fire through the loop- 
holes. We had one swivel gun, which we mount- 
ed on one of the angles, and fired it as soon as 
fixed, to let the Indians know, if any were within 
hearing, that we had such pieces ; and thus our fort 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 169 

(if that name may be given to so miserable a stock- 
ade) was finished in a week, though it rained so 
hard every other day that the men could not well 
work. 

This gave me occasion to observe, that when men 
are employed they are best contented, for on the 
days they worked they were good-natured and 
cheerful, and with the consciousness of having done 
a good day's work they spent the evening jollily ; 
but on our idle days they were mutinous and quar- 
relsome, finding fault with the pork, the bread, &c., 
and we were continually in bad humour, which put 
me in mind of a sea-captain, whose rule it was to 
keep his men constantly at work ; and when his mate 
once told him that they had done everything, and 
there was nothing farther to employ them about, 
" OA," said he, " make them scour the anchor.'''' 

This kind of fort, however contemptible, is a suf- 
ficient defence against Indians who had no cannon. 
Finding ourselves now posted securely, and having 
a place to retreat to on occasion, we ventured out in 
parties to scour the adjacent country. We met 
with no Indians, but we found the places on the 
neighbouring hills where they had lain to watch our 
proceedings. There was an art in their contrivance 
of those places that seems worth mentioning. It 
being winter, a fire was necessary for them ; but a 
common fire on the surface of the ground would, 
by its light, have discovered their position at a dis- 
tance ; they had therefore dug holes in the ground, 
about three feet in diameter and somewhat deep- 
er ; we found where they had, with their hatchets, 
cut off the charcoal from the sides of burnt logs 
lying in the woods. With these coals they had 
made small fires in the bottom of the holes, and 
we observed among the weeds and grass the prints 
of their bodies, made by their lying all round with 
their legs hanging down in the holes to keep their 
feet warm, which with them is an essential point. 

Vol. I.— 15 



170 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

This kind of fire, so managed, could not discover 
them either by its light, flame, sparks, or even 
smoke ; it appeared that the number was not great, 
and it seems they saw we were too many to be at- 
tacked by them with prospect of advantage. 

I had hardly got my fort well stored with pro- 
visions when 1 received a letter from the governor, 
acquainting me that he had called the Assembly, 
and wished my attendance there, if the posture of 
affairs on the frontiers was such that my remain- 
ing tliere was no longer necessary. My friends, too, 
of the Assembly, pressing me by their letters to be, 
if possible, at the meeting ; and my three intended 
forts being now completed, and the inhabitants con- 
tented to remain on their farms under that protec- 
tion, I resolved to return, the more willingly, as a 
New-England officer, Colonel Clapham, experienced 
in Indian war, being on a visit to our establishment, 
consented to accept the command. I gave him a 
commission, and, parading the garrison, had it read 
before them, and introduced him to them as an of- 
ficer who, from his skill in military affairs, was 
much more fit to command them than myself, and, 
giving them a little exhortation, took my leave. I 
was escorted as far as Bethlehem, where I rested 
a few days to recover from the fatigue I had under- 
gone. The first night, lying in a good bed, I could 
hardly sleep, it was so different from my hard lodg- 
ing on the floor of a hut at Gnadenhutten, with only 
a blanket or two. While at Bethlehem I inquired 
a little into the practices of the Moravians ; some 
of them had accompanied me, and all were very 
kind to me, I found they worked for a common 
stock, ate at common tables, and slept in common 
dormitories, great numbers together. In the dor- 
mitories I observed loopholes at certain distances 
all along just under the ceiling, which I thought ju- 
diciously placed for change of air. I went to their 
charch, where I was entertained with good music, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 171 

the organ being accompanied with violins, haut- 
boys, flutes, clarinets, &c. I understood their ser- 
mons were not usually preached to mixed congre- 
gations of men, women, and children, as is our com- 
mon practice, but that they assembled sometimes 
the married men, at other times their wives, then 
the young men, the young women, and the little 
children, each division by itself. The sermon I 
heard was to the latter, who came in and were 
placed in rows on benches, the boys under the con- 
duct of a young man, their tutor, and the girls con- 
ducted by a young woman. The discourse seemed 
well adapted to their capacities, and was delivered 
in a pleasing, familiar manner, coaxing them, as it 
were, to be good. They behaved very orderly, but 
looked pale and unhealthy, which made me sus- 
pect they were kept too much within doors, or not 
allowed sufficient exercise. I inquired concerning 
the Moravian marriages, whether the report was 
true that they were by lot ; I was told that lots 
were used only in particular cases : that generally, 
when a young man found himself disposed to mar- 
ry, he informed the elders of his class, who con- 
sulted the elder ladies that governed the young 
women. As these elders of the different sexes 
were well acquainted with the tempers and dispo- 
sitions of their respective pupils, they could best 
judge what matches were suitable, and their judg- 
ments were generally acquiesced in. But if, for 
example, it should happen that two or three young 
women were found to be equally proper for the 
young man, the lot was then recurred to. I ob- 
jected, if the matches are not made by the mutual 
choice of the parties, some of them may chance to 
be very unhappy. " And so they may," answered 
my informer, " if you let the parties choose for 
themselves :" which, indeed, I could not deny. 

Being returned to Philadelphia, I found the asso- 
ciation went on with great success, the inhabitants 



172 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

that were not Quakers having pretty generally come 
into it, formed themselves into companies, and 
chose their captains, lieutenants, and ensigns, ac- 
cording to the new law. Dr. Bond visited me, and 
gave me an account of the pains he had taken to 
spread a general good-liking to the law, and ascri- 
bed much to those endeavours. I had the vanity to 
ascribe all to my dialogue ; however, not knowing 
but that he might be in the right, I let him enjoy his 
opinion, which 1 take to be generally the best way 
in such cases. The officers meeting, chose me to 
be colonel of the regiment, which I this time ac- 
cepted. I forget how many companies we had, but 
we paraded about twelve hundred well-looking men, 
with a company of artillery, who had been furnish- 
ed with six brass field-pieces, which they had be- 
come so expert in the use of as to fire twelve times 
in a minute. The first time I reviewed my regi- 
ment, they accompanied me to my house, and would 
salute me with some rounds fired before my door, 
which shook down and broke several glasses of my 
electrical apparatus. And my new honour proved 
not much less brittle ; for all our commissions were 
soon after broken by a repeal of the law in Eng- 
land. 

During this short time of my colonelship, being 
about to set out on a journey to Virginia, the offi- 
cers of my regiment took it into their heads that 
it would be proper for them to escort me out of 
town as far as the lower ferry; just as I was get- 
ting on horseback they came to my door, between 
thirty and forty, mounted, and all in their uniforms. 
I had not been previously acquainted with their proj- 
ect, or I should have prevented it, being naturally 
averse to the assuming of state on any occasion; 
and I was a good deal chagrined at their appear- 
ance, as I could not avoid their accompanying me. 
What made it worse was, that, as soon as we began 
to move, they drew their swords and rode with 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 173 

them naked all the way. Somebody wrote an ac- 
count of this to the proprietor, and it gave him 
great offence. No such honour had been paid him 
when in the province, nor to any of his governors ; 
and he said it was only proper to princes of the 
blood royal, which may be true for aught I know, 
who was and still am ignorant of the etiquette in 
such cases. This silly affair, however, greatly in- 
creased his rancour against me, which was before 
considerable, on account of my conduct in the As- 
sembly respecting the exemption of his estate from 
taxation, which 1 had always opposed very warm- 
ly, and not without severe reflections on the mean- 
ness and injustice in contending for it. He accused 
me to the ministry as being the great obstacle to 
the king's service, preventing, by my influence in 
the house, the proper form of the bills for raising 
money ; and he instanced the parade with my offi- 
cers as a proof of my having an intention to take 
the government of the province out of his hands by 
force. He also applied to Sir Everard Faukener, the 
postmaster-general, to deprive me of my office; 
but it had no other effect than to procure from Sir 
Everard a gentle admonition. 

Notwithstanding the continual wrangle between 
the governor and the house, in which I, as a mem- 
ber, had so large a share, there still subsisted a civil 
intercourse between that gentleman and myself, 
and we never had any personal difference. I have 
sometimes since thought, that his little or no re- 
sentment against me, for the answers it was known 
I drew up to his messages, might be the effect of 
professional habit, and that, being bred a lawyer, he 
might consider us both as merely advocates for con- 
tending clients in a suit; he for the proprietaries, 
and I for the Assembly : he would, therefore, some- 
times call in a friendly way to advise with me on 
difficult points ; and sometimes, though not often, 
take my advice. We acted in concert to supply 
16* 



174 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

Braddock's army with provisions ; and when the 
Bhocking news arrived of his defeat, the governor 
sent in haste for me, to consult with him on measures 
for preventing the desertion of the back counties. 
I forget now the advice I gave, but I think it was 
that Dunbar should be written to, and prevailed with, 
if possible, to post his troops on the frontiers for 
their protection, until, by re-enforcements from the 
colonies, he might be able to proceed in the expe- 
dition : and, after my return from the frontier, he 
would have had me undertake the conduct of such 
an expedition with provincial troops, for the reduc- 
tion of Fort Duquesne (Dunbar and his men being 
otherwise employed) ; and he proposed to commis- 
sion me as a general. I had not so good an opinion 
of my military abilities as he professed to have, and 
I believe his professions must have exceeded his 
real sentiments : but probably he might think that 
my popularity would facilitate the business with the 
men, and influence in the Assembly the grant of 
money to pay for it ; and that, perhaps, without tax- 
ing the proprietary. Finding me not so forward to 
engage as he expected, the project was dropped ; 
and he soon after left the government, being super- 
seded by Captain Denny. 

Before I proceed in relating the part I had in 
public affairs under this new governor's administra- 
tion, it may not be amiss to give here some account 
of the rise and progress of my philosophical repu- 
tation. 

In 1746, being at Boston, I met there with a Dr. 
Spence, who was lately arrived from Scotland, and 
showed me some electric experiments. They were 
imperfectly performed, as he was not very expert ; 
but, being on a subject quite new to me, they equal- 
ly surprised and pleased me. Soon after my return 
to Philadelphia, our library company received from 
Mr, Peter ColUnson, F.R.S., of London, a present 
of a glass tube, with some account of the use of it 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 175 

in making such experiments. I eagerly seized the 
opportunity of repeating what I had seen at Boston ; 
and, by much practice, acquired great readiness in 
performing those also which we had an account of 
from England, adding a number of new ones. 1 say 
much practice, for my house was constantly full for 
some time with persons who came to see these 
new wonders. To divide a little this encumbrance 
among my friends, I caused a number of similar 
tubes to be blown in our glasshouse, with which 
they furnished themselves, so that we had at length 
several performers. Among these the principal was 
Mr. Kinnersly, an ingenious neighbour, who, being 
out of business, I encouraged to undertake showing 
the experiments for money, and drew up for him 
two lectures, in which the experiments were ranged 
in such order, and accompanied with explanations 
in such method, as that the foregoing should assist 
in comprehending the following. He procured an 
elegant apparatus for the purpose, in which all the 
little machines that I had roughly made for myself 
were neatly formed by instrument-makers. His 
lectures were well-attended and gave great satis- 
faction ; and, after some time, he went through the 
colonies, exhibiting them in every capital town, and 
picked up some money. In the West India islands, 
indeed, it was with difficulty the experiments could 
be made, from the general moisture of the air. 

Obliged as we were to Mr. CoUinson for the 
present of the tube, &c., I thought it right he should 
be informed of our success in using it, and wrote 
him several letters containing accounts of our ex- 
periments. He got them read in the Royal Society, 
where they were not at first thought worth so much 
notice as to be printed in their transactions. One 
paper which I wrote for Mr. Kinnersly, on the 
sameness of lightning with electricity, I sent to Mr. 
Mitchel, an acquaintance of mine, and one of the 
members also of that society ; who wrote me word 



176 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

that it had been read, but was laughed at by the 
connoisseurs. The papers, however, being shown 
to Dr. Fothergill, he thought them of too much 
value to be stifled, and advised the printing of them. 
Mr. Collinson then gave them to Cave for publica- 
tion in his Gentleman's Magazine ; but he chose to 
print them separately in a pamphlet, and Dr. Fother- 
gill wrote the preface. Cave, it seems, judged right- 
ly for his profession ; for, by the additions that ar- 
rived afterward, they swelled to a quarto volume ; 
which has had five editions, and cost him nothing 
for copy-money. 

It was, however, some time before those papers 
were much taken notice of in England. A copy of 
them happening to fall into the hands of the Count 
de Buffon (a philosopher deservedly of great repu- 
tation in France, and, indeed, all over Europe), he 
prevailed with Monsieur Dubourg to translate them 
into French ; and they were printed at Paris. The 
publication offended the Abbe Nollet, preceptor in 
Natural Philosophy to the royal family, and an able 
experimenter, who had formed and published a 
theory of electricity, which then had the general 
vogue. He could not at first believe that such a 
Avork came from America, and said it must have 
been fabricated by his enemies at Paris, to oppose 
his system. Afterward, having been assured that 
there really existed such a person as Franklin at 
Philadelphia (which he had doubted), he wrote and 
published a volume of letters, chiefly addressed to 
me, defending his theory, and denying the verity of 
my experiments, and of the positions deduced from 
them. I once purposed answering the abbe, and 
actually began the answer ; but, on consideration 
that my writings contained a description of experi- 
ments which any one might repeat and verify, and, 
if not to be verified, could not be defended; or of 
observations offered as conjectures, and not deliver- 
ed dogmatically, therefore not laying me under any 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 177 

obligation to defend them; and reflecting that a 
dispute between two persons, written in different 
languages, might be lengthened greatly by mistrans- 
lations, and thence misconceptions of another's 
meaning, much of one of the abbe's letters being 
founded on an error in the translation, I concluded 
to let my papers shift for themselves, believing it 
was better to spend what time I could spare from 
public business in making new experiments than 
in disputing about those already made. I therefore 
never answered Monsieur Nollet, and the event 
gave me no cause to repent my silence ; for my 
friend, Monsieur Le Roy, of the Royal Academy of 
Sciences, took up my cause and refuted him : my 
book was translated into the Italian, German, and 
Latin languages ; and the doctrine it contained was, 
by degrees, generally adopted by the philosophers 
of Europe, in preference to that of the abbe ; so 
that he lived to see himself the last of his sect, ex- 
cept Monsieur B , of Paris, his eUve and im- 
mediate disciple. 

What gave my book the more sudden and gen- 
eral celebrity, was the success of one of its pro- 
posed experiments, made by Messieurs Dalibard 
and Delor, at Marly, for drawing hghtning from the 
clouds. This engaged the public attention every- 
where. Monsieur Delor, who had an apparatus for 
experimental philosophy, and lectured in that branch 
of science, undertook to repeat what he called the 
Philadelphia experiments; and after they were per- 
formed before the king and court, all the curious of 
Paris flocked to see them. I will not swell this 
narrative with an account of that capital experi- 
ment, nor of the infinite pleasure I received in the 
success of a similar one I made soon after with 
a kite at Philadelphia, as both are to be found in 
the histories of electricity. Dr. Wright, an English 
physician, when at Paris, wrote to a friend, who was 
of the Royal Society, an account of the high esteem 



178 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

my experiments were in among the learned abroad, 
and of their wonder that my writings had been so 
little noticed in England. The society, on this, re- 
sumed the consideration of the letters that had been 
read to them, and the celebrated Dr. Watson drew 
up a summary account of them, and of all I had af- 
terward sent to England on the subject, which he 
accompanied with some praise of the writer. This 
summary was then printed in their transactions : 
and some members of the society in London, par- 
ticularly the very ingenious Mr. Canton, having 
verified the experiment of procuring lightning from 
the clouds by a pointed rod, and acquainted them 
with the success, they soon made me more than 
amends for the slight with which they had before 
treated me. Without my having made any appli- 
cation for that honour, they chose me a member; 
and voted that I should be excused the customary 
payments, which would have amounted to twenty- 
five guineas; and ever since have given me their 
transactions gratis.* They also presented me with 

^ Dr. Franklin gives a farther account of his election in the 
following extract of a letter to his son, Governor Franklin. 

" London, Dec. 19, 1767. 

" We have had an ugly affair at the Royal Society lately. 
One Dacosti, a Jew, who, as our clerk, was intrusted with col- 
lecting our moneys, has been so unfaithful as to embezzle near 
thirteen hundred pounds in four years. Being one of the coun- 
cil this year as well as the last, I have been employed all the 
last week in attending the inquiry into, and unravelling his ac- 
counts, in order to come at a full knowledge of his frauds. His 
securities are bound m one thousand pounds to the society, 
which they will pay, but we are like to lose the rest. He had 
this year received twenty-six admission payments of twenty-five 
guineas each, which he did not bring to account. 

" While attending this affair, I had an opportunity of looking 
over the old council books and journals of the society ; and hav- 
ing a curiosity to see how I came in (of which 1 had never been 
informed), I looked back for the minutes relating to it. You 
must know it is not usual to admit persons that have not re- 
quested to be admitted ; and a recommendatory certificate in 
avour of the candidate, signed by at least three of the members. 



LIFB OF FRANKLIN. 179 

the gold medal of Sir Godfrey Copley, for the year 
1753, the delivery of which was accompanied by a 
very handsome speech of the president, Lord Mac- 
clesfield, wherein I was highly honoured. 

Our new governor. Captain Denny, brought over 
for me the before-mentioned medal from the Royal 
Society, which he presented to me at an entertain- 
ment given him by the city. He accompanied it 
with very polite expressions of his esteem for me, 
having, as he said, been long acquainted with my 
character. After dinner, when the company, as 
was customary at that time, were engaged in drink- 
ing, he took me aside into another room, and ac- 
quainted me that he had been advised by his friends 
in England to cultivate a friendship with me, as one 
who was capable of giving him the best advice, and 
of contributing most effectually to render his ad- 
ministration easy, Tliat he therefore desired of all 
things to have a good understanding with me, and 
he begged me to be assured of his readiness on all 
occasions to render me any service that might be in 
his power. He said much to me also of the pro- 
prietors' good disposition towards the province, and 
of the advantage it would be to us all, and to me 
in particular, if the opposition that had been so long 

is by our rule to be presented to the society, expressing that he 
is desirous of that honour, and is so and so qualified. As I had 
never asked or expected the honour, I was, as I said before, cu- 
rious to see how the business was managed. I found that the 
certificate, worded very advantageously for me, was signed by 
Lord Macclesfield, then president. Lord Parker, and Lord Wil- 
loughby ; that the election was by a unanimous vote ; and the 
honour being voluntarily conferred by the society unsolicited by 
me, it was thought wrong to demand or receive the usual fees 
or composition ; so that my name was entered on the list with a 
vote of council that 1 was not to pay anything. And, according- 
ly, nothing has ever been demanded of me. Those who are 
admitted in the common way pay five guineas as admission 
fees, and two guineas and a half yearly contribution, or twenty- 
five guineas down in lieu of it. In my case a substantial favour 
accompanied the honour." 



180 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

continued to his measures was dropped^ and har- 
mony restored between him and the people, in 
effecting which it was thought no one could be 
more serviceable than myself; and I might depend 
on adequate acknowledgments and recompenses, 
&c. The drinkers, finding we did not return imme- 
diately to the table, sent us a decanter of Madeira, 
which the governor made liberal use of, and, in pro- 
portion, became more profuse of his solicitations and 
promises. My answers were to this purpose ; that 
my circumstances, thanks to God, were such as to 
make proprietary favours unnecessary to me ; and 
that, being a member of the Assembly, I could not 
possibly accept of any; that, however, I had no 
personal enmity to the proprietary, and that, when- 
ever the pubhc measures he proposed should ap- 
pear to be for the good of the people, no one would 
espouse and forward them more zealously than my- 
self; my past opposition had been founded on this, 
that the measures which had been urged were evi- 
dently intended to serve the proprietary interest 
with great prejudice to that of the people. That I 
was much obliged to him (the governor) for his pro- 
fession of regard to me, and that he might rely on 
everything in my power to render his administra- 
tion as easy as possible, hoping, at the same time, 
that he had not brought the same unfortunate in- 
structions his predecessors had been hampered with. 
On this he did not then explain himself; but when he 
afterward came to do business with the Assembly, 
they appeared again ; the disputes were renewed, 
and I was as active as ever in the opposition, being 
the penman, first of the request to have a commu- 
nication of the instructions, and then of the remarks 
upon them, which may be found in the Votes of the 
Times, and in the Historical Review I afterward 
published: but between us personally no enmity 
arose ; we were often together ; he was a man of 
letters, and had seen much of the world, and was 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 181 

entertaining and pleasing in conversation. He gave 
me information that my old friend Ralph was still 
alive, that he was esteemed one of the best politi- 
cal writers in England; had been employed in the 
dispute between Prince Frederic and the king, and 
had obtained a pension of three hundred pounds a 
year ; that his reputation was indeed small as a poet, 
but his prose was thought as good as any man's. 

The Assembly finally finding the proprietary ob- 
stinately persisted in shackling the deputies with 
instructions, inconsistent not only with the privi- 
leges of the people, but with the service of the 
crown, resolved to petition the king against them, 
and appointed me their agent to go over to England 
to present and support the petition. The house had 
sent up a bill to the governor, granting a sum of 
sixty thousand pounds for the king's use (ten thou- 
sand pounds of which was subjected to the orders 
of the then general, Lord Loudon), which the gov- 
ernor, in compliance with his instructions, absolutely 
refused to pass. I had agreed with Captain Morris, 
of the packet at New- York, for my passage, and my 
stores were put on board; when Lord Loudon ar- 
rived at Philadelphia, expressly, as he told me, to 
endeavour an accommodation between the governor 
and Assembly, that his majesty's service might not 
be obstructed by their dissensions. Accordingly, he 
desired the governor and myself to meet him, that 
he might hear what was to be said on both sides. 
We met and discussed the business : in behalf of 
the Assembly, I urged the various arguments that 
may be found in the public papers of that time, 
which were of my writing, and are printed with the 
minutes of the Assembly ; and the governor pleaded 
his instructions, the bond he had given to observe 
them, and his ruin if he disobeyed ; yet seemed not 
unwilUng to hazard himself if Lord Loudon would 
advise it. This his lordship did not choose to do, 
though I once thought I had nearly prevailed with 
Vol. I.— 16 



182 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

him to do it ; but finally he rather chose to urge the 
compliance of the Assembly ; and he entreated me 
to use my endeavours with them for that purpose, 
declaring that he would spare none of the king's 
troops for the defence of our frontiers, and that, if 
we did not continue to provide for that defence our- 
selves, they must remain exposed to the enemy. I 
acquainted the house with what had passed, and 
presenting them with a set of resolutions I had 
drawn up, declaring our rights, that we did not re- 
linquish our claim to those rights, but only suspend- 
ed the exercise of them on this occasion, through 
fvrce, against which we protested, they at length 
agreed to drop the bill, and frame another conform- 
ably to the proprietary instructions ; this, of course, 
the governor passed, and I was then at liberty to 
proceed on my voyage. But, in the mean time, the 
packet had sailed with my sea stores, which was 
some loss to me, and my only recompense was his 
lordship's thanks for my service, all the credit of 
obtaining the accommodation falling to his share. 

He set out for New- York before me ; and as the 
time for despatching the packet-boats was in his 
disposition, and there were two then remaining 
there, one of which, he said, was to sail very soon, 
I requested to know the precise time, that I might 
not miss her by any delay of mine. The answer 
was, " I have given out that she is to sail on Satur- 
day next ; but I may let you know, entre nous, that 
if you are there by Monday morning, you will be in 
time, but do not delay longer !" By some accident- 
al hinderance at a ferry, it was Monday noon before 
I arrived, and I was much afraid she might have 
sailed, as the wind was fair; but I was soon made 
easy by the information that she was still in the 
harbour, and would not move till next day. One 
would imagine that I was now on the very point of 
departing for Europe ; 1 thought so, but L was not 
then so well acq^uainted with his lordship's charao 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 183 

ter, of which indecision was one of the strongest 
features : I shall give some instances. It was about 
the beginning of April that I came to New-York, 
and I think it was near the end of June before we 
sailed. There were then two of the packet-boats 
which had been long in readiness, but were detained 
for the general's letters, which were always to be 
ready io-morroiv. Another packet arrived ; she too 
was detained, and before we sailed a fourth was ex- 
pected. Ours was the first to be despatched, as 
having been there longest. Passengers were en- 
gaged for all, and some extremely impatient to be 
gone, and the merchants uneasy about their letters, 
and for the orders they had given for ensurance (it 
being war-time) and for autumnal goods ; but their 
anxiety availed nothing ; his lordship's letters were 
not ready : and yet, whoever waited on him found 
him always at his desk, pen in hand, and concluded 
he must needs write abundantly. Going myself 
one morning to pay ray respects, I found in his 
antechamber one Innis, a messenger of Philadel- 
phia, who had come thence express, with a packet 
from Governor Denny for the general. He deliv- 
ered to me some letters from my friends there, 
which occasioned my inquiring when he was to re- 
turn, and where he lodged, that I might send some 
letters by him. He told me he was ordered to call 
to-morrow at nine for the general's answer to the 
governor, and should set off immediately ; I put my 
letters into his hands the same day. A fortnight 
after I met him again in the same place. " So you 
are soon returned, Innis !" " Returned ; no, 1 am 
not gone yet." " How so V " I have called here 
this and every morning these two weeks past for 
his lordship's letters, and they are not yet ready." 
" Is it possible, when he is so great a writer ; for I 
see him constantly at his escritoir." " Yes," said 
Innis, " but he is like St. George on the signs ; al- 
ways on horseback but never rides on.'''' This observa- 



184 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

tion of the messenger was, it seems, well founded ; 
for, when in England, I understood that Mr. Pitt 
(afterward Lord Chatham) gave it as one reason 
for removing this general and sending Generals Am- 
herst and Wolf, that the minister never heard from 
him, and could not know ivhat he ivas doing. 

This daily expectation of saihng, and all the three 
packets going down to Sandy Hook, to join the fleet 
there, the passengers thought it best to be on board, 
lest, by a sudden order, the ships should sail and 
they be left behind. There, if I remember, we 
were about six weeks, consuming our sea stores 
and obliged to procure more. At length the fleet 
sailed, the general and all his army on board bound 
to Louisburg, with intent to besiege and take that 
fortress ; all the packet-boats in company ordered 
to attend the general's ship, ready to receive his 
despatches when they should be ready. We were 
out five days before we got a letter with leave to 
part, and then our ship quitted the fleet and steered 
for England. The other two packets he siill de- 
tained, carried them with him to Halifax, where he 
stayed some time to exercise his men in sham attacks 
upon sham forts ; then altered his mind as to be- 
Bieging Louisburg, and returned to New-York with 
all his troops, together with the two packets above 
mentioned, and all their passengers ! During his 
absence the French and savages had taken Fort 
George, on the frontier of that province, and the 
Indians had massacred many of the garrison after 
capitulation. I saw afterward in London Captain 
Bound, who commanded one of those packets ; he 
told me that when he had been detained a month, 
he acquainted his lordship that his ship was grown 
foul to a degree that must necessarily hinder her 
fast sailing (a point of consequence for a packet- 
boat), and requested an allowance of time to heave 
her down and clean her bottom. His lordship asked 
how long a time that would require. He answered, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 185 

Three days. The general replied, " If you can do it in 
one day, I give leave, otherwise not ; for you must 
certainly sail the day after to-morrow." So he nev- 
er obtained leave, though detained afterward from 
day to day during full three months. I saw also in 
London one of Bonell's passengers, who was so en- 
raged against his lordship for deceiving and detaining 
him so long at New-York, and then carrying him to 
Halifax and back again, that he swore he would sue 
him for damages. Whether he did or not I never 
heard; but, as he represented it, the injury to his 
affairs was very considerable. On the whole, I 
wondered much how such a man came to be in- 
trusted with so important a business as the conduct 
of a great army : but having since seen more of the 
great world, and the means of obtaining, and mo- 
tives for giving places and employments, my won- 
der is diminished. General Shirley, on whom the 
command of the army devolved upjon the death of 
Braddock, would, in my opinion, if continued in 
place, have made a much better campaign than that 
of Loudon in 1756, which was frivolous, expensive, 
and disgraceful to our nation beyond conception. 
For though Shirley was not bred a soldier, he was 
sensible and sagacious in himself, and attentive to 
good advice from others, capable of forming judi- 
cious plans, and quick and active in carrying them 
into execution. Loudon, instead of defending the 
colonies with his great army, left them totally ex- 
posed, while he paraded idly at Halifax, by which 
means Fort George was lost; besides, he deranged 
all our mercantile operations, and distressed our 
trade by a long embargo on the exportation of pjoh 
visions, on pretence of keeping supplies froqj')b,ej0g 
obtained by the enemy, but in reality for ^^^tjing 
down their price in favour of the contrai?|^?j \\{ 
whose profits, it was said (perhaps from sy§gic^|> 
only), he had a share ; and when at lengtl^^ijl^gfigif 
bargo was taken off, neglected to send nojt^^cpjjc^ 
16* 



186 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

to Charleston, where the Carolina fleet was detain- 
ed near three months, and whereby their bottoms 
were so much damaged by the worm that a great 
part of them foundered in their passage home. 
Shirley was, I believe, sincerely glad of being re- 
lieved from so burdensome a charge as the con- 
duct of an army must be to a man unacquainted 
with military business. I was at the entertainment 
given by the city of New- York to Lord Loudon, on 
his taking upon him the command. Shirley, though 
thereby superseded, was present also. There was 
a great company of officers, citizens, and strangers ; 
and some chairs having been borrowed in the neigh- 
bourhood, there was one among them very low, 
which fell to the lot of Mr. Shirley. I sat by him, 
and perceiving it, 1 said, they have given you a very 
low seat. " No matter, Mr. Franklin," said he, " I 
find a low seat the easiest." 

While I was, as before mentioned, detained at 
New- York, I received all the accounts of the pro- 
visions, &c., that I had furnished to Braddock, some 
of which accounts could not sooner be obtained 
from the different persons I had employed to assist 
in the business ; I presented them to Lord Loudon, 
desiring to be paid the balance. He caused them 
to be examined by the proper officer, who, after 
comparing every article with its voucher, certified 
them to be right ; and his lordship promised to give 
me an order on the paymaster for the balance due 
to me. This was, however, put off from time to 
time ; and though I called often for it by appoint- 
ment, I did not get it. At length, just before my 
departure, he told me he had, on better considera- 
tioni concluded not to mix his accounts with those 
df his 'predecessors. "And you," said he, "when 
in Bnglsind, have only to exhibit your accounts to 
Ihe ti?ertsury, and you will be paid immediately." 
I'^en^i'oned, but without effect, a great and unex- 
pected '^kpense I had been put to by being detained 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 187 

SO long at New- York, as a reason for my desiring 
to be presently paid ; and on my observing that it 
was not right 1 should be put to any farther trouble 
or delay in obtaining the money I had advanced, as 
I charged no commission for my service, " Oh," 
said he, " you must not think of persuading us that 
you are no gainer : we understand better those mat- 
ters, and know that every one concerned in supply- 
ing the army, finds means, in the doing it, to fill his 
own pockets." I assured him that was not my 
case, and that I had not pocketed a farthing ; but he 
appeared clearly not to believe me ; and, indeed, I 
afterward learned, that immense fortunes are often 
made in such employments : as to my balance, I 
am not paid it to this day, of which more hereafter. 
Our captain of the packet boasted much before 
we sailed of the swiftness of his ship ; unfortunate- 
ly, when we came to sea, she proved the dullest of 
ninety- six sail, to his no small mortification. After 
many conjectures respecting the cause, when we 
were near another ship, almost as dull as ours, 
which, however, gained upon us, the captain ordered 
all hands to come aft, and stand as near the ensign 
staff as possible. We were, passengers included, 
about forty persons ; while we stood there, the 
ship mended her pace, and soon left her neighbour 
far behind, which proved clearly what our captain 
suspected, that she was loaded too much by the 
head. The casks of water, it seems, had been 
placed forward ; these he therefore ordered to be 
moved farther aft, on which the ship recovered her 
character, and proved the best sailer in the fleet. 
The captain said she had once gone at the rate of 
thirteen knots, which is accounted thirteen miles 
per hour. We had on board, as a passenger, Cap- 
tain Archibald Kennedy, of the royal navy, after- 
ward Earl of Cassilis, who contended that it was 
impossible, and that no ship ever sailed so fast, and 
that there must have been some error in the djvis* 



188 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

ion of the logline, or some mistake in heaving the 
log. A wager ensued between the two captains, to 
be decided when there should be sufficient wind : 
Kennedy therefore examined the logline, and, be- 
ing satisfied with it, he determined to throw the 
log himself. Some days after, when the wind was 
very fair and fresh, and the captain of the packet 
(Lutwidge) said he believed she then went at the 
rate of thirteen knots, Kennedy made the experi- 
ment, and owned his wager lost. The foregoing 
fact I give for the sake of the following observa- 
tion : it has been remarked, as an imperfection in 
the art of shipbuilding, that it can never be known 
till she is tried whether a new ship will or will not 
be a good sailer; for that the model of a good sail- 
ing ship has been exactly followed in a new one, 
which has been proved, on the contrary, remarkably 
dull. I apprehend that this may partly be occa- 
sioned by the different opinions of seamen respect- 
ing the modes of loadmg, rigging, and sailing of a 
ship; each has his method; and the same vessel, 
laden by the method and orders of one captain, 
shall sail worse than when by the orders of anoth- 
er. Besides, it scarce ever happens that a ship is 
formed, fitted for the sea, and sailed by the same 
person ; one man builds the hull, another rigs her, 
a third loads and sails her. No one of these has 
the advantage of knowing all the ideas and experi- 
ence of the others, and, therefore, cannot draw just 
conclusions from a combination of the whole. 
Even in the simple operation of sailing when at sea, 
I have often observed different judgments in the 
officers who commanded the successive watches, 
the wind being the same. One would have the 
sails trimmed sharper than another, so that they 
seemed to have no certain rule to govern by. Yet 
I think a set of experiments might be instituted, 
first, to determine the most proper form of the hull 
for swift sailing; next, the best dimensions and 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 189 

most proper place for the masts ; then the form and 
quantity of sails, and their position as the winds 
may be ; and, lastly, the disposition of the lading. 
This is an age of experiments, and I think a set 
accurately made and combined would be of great 
use. 

We were several times chased in our passage, but 
outsailed everything; and in thirty days had sound- 
ings. We had a good observation, and the captain 
judged himself so near our port (Falmouth), that if 
we made a good run in the night, we might be off 
the mouth of that harbour in the morning ; and, by 
running in the night, might escape the notice of the 
enemy's privateers, who often cruised near the en- 
trance of the channel. Accordingly all sail was set 
that we could possibly carry, and the wind being 
very fresh and fair, we stood right before it, and 
made great way. The captain, after his observa- 
tion, shaped his course, as bethought, so as to pass 
wide of the Scilly rocks ; but it seems there is some- 
times a strong current setting up St. George's Chan- 
nel, which formerly caused the loss of Sir Cloudes- 
ley Shovel's Squadron (in 1707) : this was proba- 
bly also the cause of what happened to us. We had 
a watchman placed in the bow, to whom they often 
called, " Look well out before there ;" and he as often 
answered, " Ay, ay ,•" but perhaps had his eyes shut, 
and was half asleep at the time; they sometimes 
answering, as is said, mechanically : for he did not 
see a light just before us, which had been hid by the 
studding sails from the man at the helm and from 
the rest of the watch, but by an accidental yaw of 
the ship was discovered, and occasioned a great 
alarm, we being very near it ; the light appearing to 
me as large as a cart wheel. It was midnight, and 
our captai-n fast asleep; but Captain Kennedy, jump- 
ing upon deck and seeing the danger, ordered the 
ship to wear round, all sails standing ; an operation 
dangerous to the masts, but it carried us clear, and 



190 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

we avoided shipwreck, for we were running fast on 
the rocks on which the light was erected. This de- 
liverance impressed me strong with the utility of 
light-houses, and made me resolve to encourage the 
building some of them in America, if I should live 
to return thither. 

In the morning it was found by our soundings, 
&c., that we were near our port, but a thick fog hid 
the land from our sight. About nine o'clock the fog 
began to rise, and seemed to be lifted up from the 
water like the curtain of a theatre, discovering un- 
derneath the town of Falmouth, the vessels in the 
harbour, and the fields that surround it. This was a 
pleasing spectacle to those who had been long with- 
out any other prospect than the uniform view of a 
vacant ocean ! and it gave us the more pleasure, as 
we were now free from the anxieties which had 
arisen.* 

I set out immediately, with my son,t for London, 
and we only stopped a little by the way to view 
Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain; and Lord Pem- 
broke's house and gardens, with the very curious 
antiquities at Wilton. 

We arrived in London, July 27th, 1757. 

[Conclusion of Memoirs written Ijy himself.] 

* In a letter from Dr. Franklin to his wife, dated at Falmouth, 
the 17th July, 1757, after giving her a similar account of his 
voyage, escape, and landmg, he adds, " 'i'he bell ringing for 
church, we went thither immediately, and, with hearts full of 
gratitude, returned sincere thanks to God for the mercies we 
Bad received." 

t William Franklin, afterward governor of New-Jersey. 



PART III. 

[^Continuation hy Dr. Stuber.*] 

Dr. Franklin having mentioned his electrical dis- 
coveries only in a very transient manner in the pre- 
ceding memoirs, some farther account of them can- 
not fail to be interesting. 

He engaged in a course of electrical experiments 
with all the ardour and thirst for discovery which 
characterized the philosophers of that day. Of all 
the branches of experimental philosophy, electricity 
had been least explored. The attractive power of 
amber is mentioned by Theophrastus and Pliny, and 
from them by later naturalists. In the year 1600, 
Gilbert, an English physician, enlarged considerably 
the catalogue of substances which have the property 

* Dr. Stuber was bom in Philadelphia, of German parents. 
He was sent at an early age to the university, where his genius, 
diligence, and amiable temper soon acquired him the particular 
notice and favour of those under whose immediate direction he 
was placed. After passing through the common course of study 
in a much shorter time than usual, he left the university at 
the age of sixteen, with great reputation. Not long after, he 
entered on the study of physic; and the zeal with which he 
pursued it, and the advances he made, gave his friends reason 
to form the most flattering prospects of his future eminence and 
usefulness in the profession. As Dr. Stuber's circumstances 
were very moderate, he did not think this pursuit well calcula- 
ted to answer them. He therefore relinquished it after he had 
obtained a degree in the profession, and qualified himself to 
practice with credit and success, and immediately entered on 
the study of the law. While in the pursuit of the last-mention- 
ed object, he was prevented, by a premature death, from reaping 
the fruit of those talents with which he was endowed, and of a 
youth spent in the ardent and successful pursuit of useful and 
elegant literature. 



192 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

of attracting light bodies. Boyle, Otto GuerickCj a 
burgomaster of Magdeburg, celebrated as the in- 
ventor of the airpump. Dr. Wall, and Sir Isaac New- 
ton, added some facts. Guericke first observed the 
repulsive power of electricity, and the light and 
noise produced by it. In 1709, Hawkesbec commu- 
nicated some important observations and experi- 
ments to the world. For several years electricity 
■was entirely neglected, until Mr. Grey applied him- 
self to it, in 1728, with great assiduity. He and his 
friend Mr. Wheeler made a great variety of exper- 
iments; in which they demonstrated that electri- 
city may be communicated from one body to an- 
other, even without being in contact, and in this 
way may be conducted to a great distance. Mr. 
Grey afterward found that, by suspending rods of 
iron by silk or hair lines, and bringing an excited 
tube under them, sparks might be drawn, and a light 
perceived at the extremities in the dark. M. du 
Faye, intendant of the French king's gardens, made 
a number of experiments, which added not a little 
to the science. He made the discovery of two 
kinds of electricity, which he called vilreous and res- 
inous ; the former produced by rubbing glass, the 
latter from excited sulphur, sealing-wax, &c. But 
this idea he afterward gave up as erroneous. Be- 
tween the year 1739 and 1742, Desauguliers made 
a number of experiments, but added little of im- 
portance. He first used the terms conductors and 
electrics per se. In 1742, several ingenious Germans 
engaged in this subject ; of these the principal were, 
Professor Boze, of Wittemberg, Professor Winkler, 
of Leipsic, Gordon, a Scotch Benedictine monk, 
professor of philosophy at Erfurt, and Dr. Ludolf, 
of Berlin. The result of their researches astonish- 
ed the philosophers of Europe. Their apparatus 
was large, and by means of it they were enabled to 
collect large quantities of the electric fluid, and thus 
to produce phenomena which had been hitherto un-, 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 193 

observed. They killed small birds, and set spirits 
on fire. Their experiments excited the curiosity of 
other philosophers. Collinson, about the year 1745, 
sent to the Library Company of Philadelphia an ac- 
count of these experiments, together with a tube, 
and directions how to use it. Franklin, with some of 
his friends, immediately engaged in a course of ex- 
periments, the result of which is well known. He 
was enabled to make a number of important dis- 
coveries, and to propose theories to account for 
various phenomena; which have been universally 
adopted, and which bid fair to endure for ages. His 
observations he communicated in a series of letters, 
to his friend Collinson, the first of which is dated 
March 28, 1747. In these he shows the power of 
points in draining and throwing off the electrical 
matter, which had hitherto escaped the notice of 
electricians. He also made the grand discovery of 
a plus and minus., or of a positive and negative state 
of electricity. We give him the honour of this 
without hesitation, although the English have 
claimed it for their countryman. Dr. Watson. Wat- 
son's paper is dated January 21, 1748; Franklin's 
July 11, 1747; several months prior. Shortly after, 
Franklin, from his principles of the plus and minus 
state, explained, in a satisfactory manner, the phe- 
nomena of the Leyden vial, first observed by Mr. 
Cuneus, or by Professor Muschenbroeck, of Ley- 
den, which had much perplexed philosophers. He 
showed clearly that the bottle, when charged, con- 
tained no more electricity than before, but that as 
much was taken from one side as was thrown on 
the other ; and that, to discharge it, nothing was 
necessary but to produce a communication between 
the two sides by which the equilibrium might be 
restored, and that then no signs of electricity would 
remain. He afterward demonstrated, by experi- 
ments, that the electricity did not reside in the 
coating, as had been supposed, but in the pores of 
Vol. L— 17 



194 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

the glass itself. After a vial was charged, he re- 
moved the coating, and found that, upon applying a 
new coating, the shock might still be received. In 
the year 1749, he first suggested his idea of explain- 
ing the phenomena of thunder-gusts, and of the au- 
rora borealis, upon electrical principles. He points 
out many particulars in which lightning and electri- 
city agree : and he adduces many facts, and reason- 
ings from facts, in support of his positions. In the 
same year he conceived the astonishingly bold and 
grand idea of ascertaining the truth of his doctrine, 
by actually drawing down the lightnmg, by means 
of sharp-pointed iron rods raised into the region of 
the clouds. Even in this uncertain state, his pas- 
sion to be useful to mankind displays itself in a 
powerful manner. Admitting the identity of elec- 
tricity and lightning, and knowing the power of 
points in repelling bodies charged with electricity, 
and in conducting their fire silently and impercepti- 
bly, he suggested the idea of securing houses, ships, 
&c., from being damaged by lightning, by erecting 
pointed rods, that should rise some feet above the 
most elevated part, and descend some feet into the 
ground or the water. The eff"ect of these, he con- 
cluded, would be either to prevent a stroke by re- 
pelling the cloud beyond the striking distance, or by 
drawing off the electrical fire which it contained; 
or, if they could not eflfect this, they would at least 
conduct the electric matter to the earth, without 
injury to the building. 

It was not until the summer of 1752 that he was 
enabled to complete his grand and unparalleled dis- 
covery by experiment. The plan which he had ori- 
ginally proposed was to erect on some high tower 
or other elevated place a sentry-box, from which 
should rise a pointed iron rod, insulated by being 
fixed in a cake of resin. Electrified clouds passing 
over this would, he conceived, impart to it a por- 
tion of their electricity, which would be rendered 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 195 

evident to the senses by sparks being emitted when 
a key, the knuckle, or other conductor was pre- 
sented to it. Philadelphia at this time afforded no 
opportunity of trying an experiment of this kind. 
While Franklin was waiting for the erection of a 
spire, it occurred to him that he might have more 
ready access to the region of clouds by means of a 
common kite. He prepared one by fastening two 
cross sticks to a silk handkerchief, which would not 
suffer so much from the rain as paper. To the up- 
right stick was affixed an iron point. The string 
was, as usual, of hemp, except the lower end, which 
was silk. Where the hempen string terminated a 
key was fastened. With this apparatus, on the ap- 
pearance of a thunder-gust approaching, he went out 
into the commons, accompanied by his son, to whom 
alone he communicated his intentions, well know- 
ing the ridicule which, too generally for the interest 
of science, awaits unsuccessful experiments in phi- 
losophy. He placed himself under a shade to 
avoid the rain ; his kite was raised ; a thunder-cloud 
passed over it ; no sign of electricity appeared. He 
almost despaired of success, when, suddenly, he 
observed the loose fibres of his string to move to- 
wards an erect position. He now presented his 
knuckle to the key, and received a strong spark. 
How exquisite must his sensations have been at this 
moment ! On this experiment depended the fate 
of his theory. If he succeeded, his name would 
rank high among those who had improved science ; 
if he failed, he must inevitably be subjected to the 
derision of mankind, or, what is worse, their pity, 
as a well-meaning man, but a weak, silly projector. 
The anxiety with which he looked for the result of 
his experiment may be easily conceived. Doubts 
and despair had begun to prevail, when the fact was 
ascertained in so clear a manner, that even the 
most incredulous could no longer withhold their as* 
sent Repeated sparks were drawn from the key, 



196 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

a vial was charged, a shock given, and all the ex- 
periments made which are usually performed with 
electricity. 

About a month before this period, some ingenious 
Frenchman had completed the discovery in the 
manner originally proposed by Dr. Franklin. The 
letters which he sent to Mr. CoUinson, it is said, 
were refused a place in the Transactions of the 
Royal Society of London. However this may be, 
CoUinson published them in a separate volume, 
under the title of " New Experiments and Observa- 
tions on Electricity, made at Philadelphia, in Amer- 
ica." They were read with avidity, and soon trans- 
lated into different languages. A very incorrect 
French translation fell into the hands of the cele- 
brated Buffon, who, notwithstanding the disadvan- 
tages under which the work laboured, was much 
pleased with it, and repeated the experiments with 
success. He prevailed on his friend, M. D'Alibard, 
to give his countrymen a more correct translation 
of the works of the American electrician. This 
contributed much towards spreading a knowledge 
of Franklin's principles in France. The king, Louis 
XV., hearing of these experiments, expressed a 
wish to be a spectator of them. A course of ex- 
periments was given at the seat of the Due D'Ayen, 
at St. Germain, by M. de Lor. The applauses which 
the king bestowed upon Franklm excited in Buf- 
fon, D'Alibard, and De Lor, an earnest desire of 
ascertaining the truth of his theory of thunder-gust. 
Buffon erected his apparatus on the tower of Mon- 
thar, M. D'Alibard at Mary-la-ville, and De Lor at 
his house in the Estrapade at Paris, some of the 
highest ground in that capital. D'Alibard's machine 
first showed signs of electricity. On the 10th of 
May, 1752, a thunder-cloud passed it, in the absence 
of M'AUbard, and a number of sparks were drawn 
from it by Coiffier, a Joiner, with whom D'Alibard 
had left directions how to proceed, and by M. Rau- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 197 

let the prior of Mary-la-ville. An account of This 
experiment was given to the Royal Academy of 
Sciences, by M. D'AUbard, in a memoir, dated May 
13, 1752. On the 18th of May, M. de Lor prove'd 
equally successful with the apparatus erected at his 
own house. These philosophers soon excited those 
of other parts of Europe to repeat the experiment, 
among whom none signalized themselves more than 
Father Beccaria, of Turin, to whose observations 
science is much indebted. Even the cold regions 
of Russia were penetrated by the ardour for dis- 
covery. Professor Rich man bade fair to add much 
to the stock of knowledge on this subject, when an 
unfortunate flash from his conductor put a period, 
to his existence. The friends of science will long 
remember with regret the amiable martyr to elec- 
tricity. 

By these experiments Frankhn's theory was es- 
tablished in the most convincing manner. When 
the truth of it could no longer be doubted, envy 
and vanity endeavoured to detract from its merit. 
That an American, an inhabitant of the obscure city 
of Philadelphia, the name of which was hardly 
known, should be able to make discoveries and to 
frame theories which had escaped the notice of the 
enlightened philosophers of Europe, was too morti- 
fying to be admitted. He must certainly have taken 
the idea from some one else. An American, a being 
of an inferior order, make discoveries ! Impossible. 
It was said that the Abbe Nollet, 1748, had sug- 
gested the idea of the similarity of lightning and 
electricity in his Leqons de Physique. It is true that 
the abbe mentions the idea, but he throws it out as 
a bare conjecture, and proposes no mode of ascer- 
taining the truth of it. He himself acknowledges 
that Franklin first entertained the bold thought of 
bringing lightning from the heavens, by means of 
pointed rods fixed in the air. The similarity of 
lightning and electricity is so strong, that we need 
17* 



198 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

not be surprised at notice being taken of it as soon 
as electrical phenomena became familiar. We find 
it mentioned by Dr. Wall and Mr. Grey, while the 
science was in its infancy. But the honor of form- 
ing a regular theory of thunder-gusts, of suggesting 
a mode of determining the truth of it by experi- 
ments, and of putting these experiments in prac- 
tice, and thus establishing the theory upon a firm 
and solid basis, is incontestibly due to Franklin. 
D'Alibard, who made the first experiments in 
France, says that he only followed the tract which 
Franklin had pointed out. 

It has been of late asserted, that the honour of 
completing the experiment with the electrical kite 
does not belong to Franklin. Some late English 
paragraphs have attributed it to some Frenchman, 
whose name they do not mention : and the Abbe 
Bertholon gives it to M. de Romas, assessor to the 
presideal of Nerac : the English paragraphs proba- 
bly refer to the same person. But a very slight at- 
tention will convince us of the injustice of this pro- 
cedure : Dr. Franklin's experiment was made in 
June, 1752, and his letter, giving an account of it, 
is dated October 19, 1752. M. de Romas made his 
first attempt on the 14th of May, 1753, but was not 
successful until the 7th of June, a year after Frank- 
lin had completed the discovery, and when it was 
known to all the philosophers in Europe. 

Besides these great principles, Franklin's letters 
on electricity contain a number of facts and hints 
which have contributed greatly towards reducing 
this branch of knowledge to a science. His friend, 
Mr. Kinnersley, communicated to him a discovery 
of the different kinds of electricity, excited by rub- 
bing glass and sulphur. This, we have said, was 
first observed by M. du Faye, but it was for many 
years neglected. The philosophers were disposed 
to account for the phenomena rather from a differ- 
ence in the quantity of electricity collected, and 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 199 

even Du Faye himself seems at last to have adopt- 
ed this doctrine. Frankhn at first entertained the 
same idea ; but, upon repeating the experiment, he 
perceived that Mr. Kinnersley was right ; and that 
the vitreous and resinous electricity of Du Faye were 
nothing more than the positive and negative states 
which he had before observed ; and that the glass 
globe charged positively, or increased the quantity 
of electricity on the prime conductor, while the 
globe of sulphur diminishes its natural quantity, or 
charged negatively. These experiments and obser- 
vations opened a new field for investigation, upon 
which electricians entered with avidity, and their 
labours have added much to the stock of our knowl- 
edge. 

In September, 1752, Franklin entered upon a 
course of experiments to determine the state of 
electricity in the clouds. From a number of ex- 
periments he formed this conclusion : " That the 
clouds of a thunder-gust are most commonly in a 
negative state of electricity, but sometimes in a 
positive state ;" and from this it follows, as a ne- 
cessary consequence, " that, for the most part, in 
thunder-strokes, it is the earth that strikes into the 
clouds, and not the clouds that strike into the 
earth." The letter containing these observations 
is dated in September, 1753 ; and yet the discovery 
of ascending thunder has been said to be of a mod- 
ern date, and has been attributed to the Abbe Ber- 
tholon, who published his memoir on the subject in 
1776. 

Franklin's letters have been translated into most 
of the European languages and into Latin. In pro- 
portion as they have become known, his principles 
have been adopted. Some opposition was made to 
his theories, particularly by the Abbe Nollet, v/ho 
was, however, feebly supported, while the first phi- 
losophers in Europe stepped forth in defence of 
Franklin's principles, among whom D'Alibard and 



200 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

Beccaria were the most distinguished. The oppo- 
sition has gradually ceased, and the Franklinian 
system is now universally adopted where science 
flourishes. 

The important practical use which Franklin made 
of his discoveries, the securing of houses from in- 
jury by lightning, has been already mentioned. 
Pointed conductors are now very common in Amer- 
ica; but prejudice has hitherto prevented their gen- 
eral introduction into Europe, notwithstanding the 
most undoubted proofs of their utility have been 
given. But mankind can with difficulty be brought 
to lay aside established practices, or to adopt new 
ones. And perhaps we have more reason to be 
surprised that a practice, however rational, which 
was proposed about forty years ago, should in that 
time have been adopted in so many places, than 
that it has not universally prevailed. It is only by 
degrees that the great body of mankind can be led 
into new practices, however salutary their tenden- 
cy. It is now nearly eighty years since inocu- 
lation was introduced into Europe and America; 
and it is so far from being general at present, that 
it will require one or two centuries to render it so. 

The disputes between the proprietaries and the 
people of the province continued in full force, al- 
though a war vvas raging on the frontiers. Not even 
the sense of danger was sufficient to reconcile, for 
ever so short a time, their jarring interests. The As- 
sembly still insisted upon the justice of taxing the 
proprietary estates ; but the governors constantly re- 
fused their assent to this measure, without which no 
bill could pass into a law. Enraged at the obstinacy, 
and what they conceived to be the unjust proceedings 
of their opponents, the Assembly at length determin- 
ed to apply to the mother country for rehef. A peti- 
tion was addressed to ihe king in council, stating the 
inconveniences under which the inhabitants labour- 
ed, from the attention of the proprietaries to their 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 201 

private interest, to the neglect of the general welfare 
of the community, and praying for redress. Franklin 
was appointed to present this address, as agent for 
the province of Pennsylvania, and departed from 
America in June, 1757. In conformity to the in- 
structions which he had received from the legisla- 
ture, he held a conference with the proprietaries 
who then resided in England, and endeavoured to pre- 
vail upon them to give up the long-contested point. 
Finding that they would hearken to no terms of ac- 
commodation, he laid his petition before the coun- 
cil. During this time Governor Denny assented to 
a law imposing a tax, in which no discrimination 
was made in favour of the estates of the Penn fami- 
ly. They, alarmed at this intelligence and Frank- 
lin's exertions, used their utmost endeavours to pre- 
vent the royal sanction being given to this law, 
which they represented as highly iniquitous, design- 
ed to throw the burden of supporting government 
upon them, and calculated to produce the most ruin- 
ous consequences to them and their posterity. The 
cause was amply discussed before the privy council. 
The Penns found here some strenuous advocates ; 
nor were there wanting some who warmly espous- 
ed the side'of the people. After some time spent 
in debate, a proposal was made that Franklin should 
solemnly engage that the assessment of the tax 
should be so made as that the proprietary estates 
should pay no more than a due proportion. This 
he agreed to perform, the Penn family withdrew 
their opposition, and tranquillity was thus once 
more restored to the province. 

The mode in which this dispute was terminated 
is a striking proof of the high opinion entertained 
of Franklin's integrity and honour, even by those 
who considered him as inimical to their views. Nor 
was their confidence ill-founded. The assessment 
was made upon the strictest principle of equity; 



202 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

and the proprietary estates bore only a proportiona- 
ble share of the expenses of supporting government. 

After the completion of this important business, 
Franklin remained at the court of Great Britain as 
agent for the province of Pennsylvania. The ex- 
tensive knowledge which he possessed of the situa- 
tion of the colonies, and the regard which he al- 
ways manifested for their interests, occasioned his 
appointment to the same office by the colonies of 
Massachusetts, Maryland, and Georgia. His con- 
duct, in this situation, was such as rendered him 
still more dear to his countrymen. 

He had now an opportunity of indulging in the 
society of those friends whom his merits had pro- 
cured him while at a distance. The regard which 
they had entertained for him was rather increased 
by a personal acquaintance. The opposition which 
had been made to his discoveries in philosophy grad- 
ually ceased, and the rewards of literary merit were 
abundantly conferred upon him. The Royal Socie- 
ty of London, which had at first refused his perform- 
ances admission into its transactions, now thought 
it an honour to rank him among its fellows. Other 
societies of Europe were equally ambitious of call- 
ing him a member. The University of St. Andrew, 
in Scotland, conferred upon him the degree of Doc- 
tor of Laws. Its example was followed by the 
Universities of Edinburgh and Oxford. His corre- 
spondence was sought for by the most eminent phi- 
losophers of Europe. His letters to these abound 
with true science, dehvered in the most simple, un- 
adorned manner. 

The province of Canada was at this time in the 
possession of the French, who had originally set- 
tled it. The trade with the Indians, for which its 
situation was very convenient, was exceedingly lu- 
crative. The French traders here found a market 
for their commodities, and received in return large 
quantities of rich furs, which they disposed of at a 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 203 

high price in Europe. Wliile the possession of this 
country was highly advantageous to France, it was 
a grievous inconvenience to the inhabitants of the 
British colonies. The Indians were almost gen- 
erally desirous to cultivate the friendship of the 
French, by whom they were abundantly supplied 
with arms and ammunition. Whenever a war hap- 
pened, the Indians vi'ere ready to fall upon the fron- 
tiers; and this they frequently did, even when Great 
Britain and France were at peace. From these con- 
siderations, it appeared to be the interest of Great 
Britain to gain the possession of Canada. But the 
importance of such an acquisition was not well un- 
derstood in England. Franklin about this time pub- 
lished his Canada pamphlet, in which he, in a very 
forcible manner, pointed out the advantages which 
would result from the conquest of this province. 

An expedition against it w^as planned, and the 
command given to General Wolfe. His success is 
well known. At the treaty in 1762, France ceded 
Canada to Great Britain ; and by her cession of Lou- 
isiana, at the same time, relinquished all her pos- 
sessions on the continent of America. 

Although Dr. Franklin was now principally occu- 
pied with political pursuits, he found time for philo- 
sophical studies. He extended his electrical re- 
searches, and made a variety of experiments, par- 
ticularly on the tourmalin. The singular properties 
which this stone possesses, of being electrified on 
one side positively, and on the other negatively, by 
heat alone, without friction, had been but lately ob- 
served. 

Some experiments on the cold produced by evap- 
oration, made by Dr. Cullen, had been communi- 
cated to Dr. Franklin by Professor Simpson, of 
Glasgow. These he repeated, and found that, by 
the evaporation of ether in the exhausted receiver 
of an airpump, so great a degree of cold was pro- 
duced in a summer's day, that water was converted 



204 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

into ice. This discovery he applied to the solution 
of a number of phenomena, particularly a single fact, 
which philosophers had endeavoured in vain to ac- 
count for, viz., that the temperature of the human 
body, when in health, never exceeds 96 degrees of 
Fahrenheit's thermometer, although the atmosphere 
which surrounds it may be heated to a much greater 
degree. This he attributed to the increased perspi- 
ration and consequent evaporation produced by the 
heat. 

In a letter to Mr. Small, of London, dated in May, 
1760, Dr. Franklin makes a number of observations, 
tending to show that, in North America, northeast 
storms begin in the southwest parts. It appears, 
from actual observations, that a northeast storm, 
which extended a considerable distance, commen- 
ced at Philadelphia nearly four hours before it was 
felt at Boston. He endeavoured to account for this 
by supposing that, from heat, some rarefication takes 
place about the Gulf of Mexico ; that the air far- 
ther north, being cooler, rushes in, and is succeeded 
by the cooler and denser air still farther north, and 
that thus a continued current is at length produced. 

The tone produced by rubbing the brim of a drink- 
ing-glass with a wet finger had been generally 
known. A Mr. Puckeridge, an Irishman, by placing 
on a table a number of glasses of different sizes, 
and tuning them, by partly filling them with water, 
endeavoured to form an instrument capable of play- 
ing tunes. He was prevented, by an untimely end, 
from bringing his invention to any degree of per- 
fection. After his death some improvements were 
made upon his plan. The sweetness of the tones 
induced Dr. Franklin to make a variety of experi- 
ments ; and he at length formed that elegant instru- 
ment which he has called the Armonica. 

In ^he summer of 1762 he returned to America. 
On his passage he observed the singular effect pro- 
duced by the agitation of a vessel containing oil 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 205 

floating on water. The surface of the oil remainss 
smooth and undisturbed, while the water is agitate 
with the utmost commotion. No satisfactory ex- 
planation of this appearance has, we believe, ever 
been given. 

Dr. Franklin received the thanks of the Assem- 
bly of Pennsylvania, "as well for the faithful dis- 
charge of his duty to that province in particular, 
as for the many and important services done to 
America in general during his residence in Great 
Britain." A compensation of 5000Z., Pennsylvania 
currency, was also decreed him for his service du- 
ring six years. 

During his absence he had been annually elected 
member of the Assembly. On his return to Penn- 
sylvania he again took his seat in this body, and 
continued a steady defender of the liberties of the 
people. 

In December, 1762, a circumstance which caused 
great alarm in the province took place. A number 
of Indians had resided in the county of Lancaster, 
and conducted themselves uniformly as friends to 
the white inhabitants. Repeated depredations on 
the frontiers had exasperated the inhabitants to 
such a degree, that they determined on revenge 
upon every Indian. A number of persons, to the 
amount of about 120, principally inhabitants of 
Donegal and Peckstang, or Paxton, townships, in 
the county of York, assembled, and, mounted on 
horseback, proceeded to the settlement of these 
harmless and defenceless Indians, whose number 
had now been reduced to about twenty. The In- 
dians received intelligence of the attack which was 
intended against them, but disbelieved it. Consid- 
ering the white people as their friends, they appre- 
hended no danger from them. When the party ar- 
rived at the Indian settlement, they found only some 
women and children, and a few old men, the rest 
being absent at work. They murdered all whom 

Vol. I.— 18 



206 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

they found, and among others the chief Shaheas, 
who had been always distinguished for his friendship 
to the whites. This bloody deed excited much in- 
dignation in the well-disposed part of the com- 
munity. 

The remainderof these unfortunate Indians, who, 
by absence, had escaped the massacre, were con- 
ducted to Lancaster, and lodged in the jail as a 
place of security. The governor issued a procla- 
mation, expressing the strongest disapprobation of 
the action, offering a reward for the discovery of 
the perpetrators of the deed, and prohibiting all inju- 
ries to the peaceable Indians in future. But, notwith- 
standing this, a party of the same men shortly after 
marched to Lancaster, broke open the jail, and in- 
humanly butchered the innocent Indians who had 
been placed there for security. Another proclama- 
tion was issued, but it had no effect. A detach- 
ment marched down to Philadelphia for the express 
purpose of murdering some friendly Indians, who 
had been removed to the city for safety. A num- 
ber of the citizens armed in their defence. The 
Quakers, whose principles are opposed to fighting, 
even in their own defence, were most active upon 
this occasion. The rioters came to Germantown. 
The governor fled for safety to the house of Dr. 
Franklin, who, with some others, advanced to meet 
the Paxton boys, as they were called, and had in- 
fluence enough to prevail upon them to relinquish 
their undertaking and return to their homes. 

The disputes between the proprietaries and the 
Assembly, which for a time had subsided, were 
again revived. The proprietaries were dissatisfied 
with the concessions made in favour of the people, 
and made great struggles to recover the privilege 
of exempting their estates from taxation, which 
they had been induced to give up. 

In 1763 the Assembly passed a militia bill, to 
•which the governor refused to give his assent, un- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 207 

less tlie Assembly would agree to certain amend- 
ments which he proposed. These consisted in in- 
creasing the fines, and, in some cases, substituting 
death for fines. He wished, too, that the officers 
should be appointed altogether by himself, and not 
be nominated by the people, as the bill had pro- 
posed. These amendments the Assembly consid- 
ered as inconsistent with the spirit of liberty. They 
would not adopt them ; the governor was obstinate, 
and the bill was lost. 

These, and various other circumstances, increas- 
ed the uneasiness which subsisted between the pro- 
prietaries and the Assembly, to such a degree that, 
in 1764, a petition to the king was agreed to by the 
house, praying an alteration from a proprietary to a 
regal government. Great opposition was made to 
this measure, not only in the house, but in the pub- 
lic prints. A speech of Mr. Dickenson on the sub- 
ject was published, with a preface by Dr. Smith, 
in which great pains were taken to show the impro- 
priety and impolicy of this proceeding. A speech of 
Mr. GoUoway, in reply to Mr. Dickenson, was pub- 
lished, accompanied with a preface by Dr. Frank- 
lin, in which he ably opposed the principles laid 
down in the preface to Mr. Dickenson's speech. 
This application to the throne produced no eff'ect. 
The proprietary government was still continued. 

At the election for a new Assembly, in the fall 
of 1764, the friends of the proprietaries made great 
exertions to exclude those of the adverse party; 
and they obtained a small majority in the city of 
Philadelphia. Franklin now lost his seat in the 
house, which he had held for fourteen years. On 
the meeting of the Assembly it appeared that there 
was still a decided majority of Franklin's friends. 
He was immediately appointed provincial agent, 
to the great chagrin of his enemies, who made a 
solemn protest against this appointment : which was 
refused admission upon the minutes, as being un- 



208 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

precedented. It was, however, published in the pa- 
pers, and produced a spirited reply from him, just 
before his departure for England. 

The disturbances produced in America by Mr. 
Grenville's stamp-act, and the opposition made to 
it, are well known. Under the Marquis of Rock- 
ingham's administration, it appeared expedient to 
endeavour to calm the minds of the colonists, and 
the repeal of the odious tax was contemplated. 
Among other means of collecting information on 
the disposition of the people to submit to it. Dr. 
Franklin was called to the bar of the House of 
Commons. The examination which he here un- 
derwent was published, and contains a striking 
proof of the extent and accuracy of his information, 
and the facility with which he communicated his 
sentiments. He represented facts in so strong a 
point of view, that the expediency of the act must 
have appeared clear to every unprejudiced mind. 
The act, after some opposition, was repealed, about 
a year after it was enacted, and before it had ever 
been carried into execution. 

In the year 1766, he made a visit to Holland and 
Germany, and received the greatest marks of atten- 
tion from men of science. In his passage through 
Holland, he learned from the watermen the effect 
which a diminution of the quantity of water in ca- 
nals has in impeding the progress of boats. Upon 
his return to England, he was led to make a number 
of experiments, all of which tended to confirm the 
observation. These, with an explanation of the 
phenomenon, he communicated in a letter to his 
friend. Sir John Pringle, which is among his philo- 
sophical pieces. 

In the followmg year he travelled into France, 
where he met with a no less favourable reception 
than he had experienced in Germany. He was in- 
troduced to a number of literary characters, and to 
Uhe king, Louis XV. 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 209 

Several letters, written by Hutchinson, Oliver, and 
others, to persons in eminent stations in Great 
Britain, came into the hands of Dr. Franklin. These 
contained the most violent invectives against the 
leading characters of the State of Massachusetts, 
and strenuously advised the prosecution of vigorous 
measures to compel the people to obedience to the 
measures of the ministry. These he transmitted 
to the legislature, by whom they were published. 
Attested copies of them were sent to Great Britain, 
with an address, praying the king to discharge from 
office persons who had rendered themselves obnox- 
ious to the people, and who had shown themselves 
so unfriendly to their interests. The publication of 
these letters produced a duel between Mr. Whately 
and Mr. Temple ; each of whom was suspected of 
having been instrumental in procuring them. To 
prevent any farther disputes on this subject. Dr. 
Franklin, in one of the public papers, declared that 
he had sent them to America, but would give no in- 
formation concerning the manner in which he had 
obtained them ; nor was this ever discovered. 

Shortly after, the petition of the Massachusetts 
Assembly was taken up for examination before the 
privy council. Dr. Franklin attended as agent for 
the Assembly ; and here a torrent of the most vio- 
lent and unwarranted abuse was poured upon him 
by the solicitor-general, Wedderburne, who was en- 
gaged as counsel for Oliver and Hutchinson. The 
petition was declared to be scandalous and vexa- 
tious, and the prayer of it refused. 

Although the parliament of Great Britain had re- 
pealed the stamp-act, it was only upon the principle 
of expediency. They still insisted upon their right 
to tax the colonies ; and, at the same time that the 
stamp-act was repealed, an act was passed declaring 
the right of parhament to bind the colonies in all 
cases whatever. This language was used even by 
most strenuous opposers of the stamp-act, and, 



210 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

among others, by Mr. Pitt. This right was never 
recognised by the colonists ; but, as ihey flattered 
themselves that it would not be exercised, they 
were not very active in remonstrating against it. 
Had this pretended right been suffered to remain 
dormant, the colonists would cheerfully have fur- 
nished their quota of supplies, in the mode to which 
they had been accustomed ; that is, by acts of 
their own assemblies, in consequence of requisi- 
tions from the secretary of state. If this prac- 
tice had been pursued, such was the disposition of 
the colonies towards their mother country, that, 
notwithstanding the disadvantages under which they 
laboured, from restraints upon their trade, calcula- 
ted solely for the benefit of the commercial and 
manufacturing interests of Great Britain, a separa- 
tion of the two countries might have been a far dis- 
tant event. The Americans, from their earhest in- 
fancy, were taught to venerate a people from whom 
they were descended ; whose language, laws, and 
manners were the same as their own. They look- 
ed up to them as models of perfection ; and, in their 
prejudiced minds, the most enlightened nations of 
Europe were considered as almost barbarians in 
comparison with Englishmen. The name of an 
Englishman conveyed to an American the idea of 
everything good and great. Such sentiments in- 
stilled into them in early life, what but a repetition 
of unjust treatment could have induced them to en- 
tertain the most distant thought of separation ! 
The duties on glass, paper, leather, painters' colours, 
tea, &c., the disfranchisement of some of the colo- 
nies, the obstruction to the measures of the legis- 
lature in others by the king's governors, the con- 
temptuous treatment of their humble remonstran- 
ces, stating their grievances, and praying a redress 
of them, and other violent and oppressive measures, 
at length excited an ardent spirit of opposition. In- 
stead of endeavouring to allay this by a more len- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 211 

lent conduct, the ministry seemed resolutely bent 
upon reducing the colonies to the most slavish obe- 
dience to their decrees. But this only tended to 
aggravate. Vain were all the efforts made use of 
to prevail upon them to lay aside their designs, to 
convince them of the impossibility of carrying them 
into effect, and of the mischievous consequences 
which must ensue from the continuance of the at- 
tempt. They persevered with a degree of inflexi- 
bility scarcely paralleled. 

The advantages which Great Britain derived from 
her colonies was so great, that nothing but a degree 
of infatuation little short of madness could have 
produced a continuance of measures calculated to 
keep up a spirit of uneasiness, which might occasion 
the slightest wish for a separation. When we con- 
sider the great improvements in the science of gov- 
ernment, the general diffusion of the principles of 
liberty among the people of Europe, the effects 
which these have already produced in France, and 
the probable consequences which will result from 
them elsewhere, all of which are the offspring of 
the American revolution, it cannot but appear 
strange that events of so great moment to the hap- 
piness of mankind should have been ultimately 
occasioned by the wickedness or ignorance of a 
British ministry. 

Dr. FrankUn left nothing untried to prevail upon 
the ministry to consent to a change of measures. 
In private conversations, and in letters to persons 
in government, he continually expatiated upon the 
impolicy and injustice of their conduct towards 
America ; and stated that, notwithstanding the at- 
tachment of the colonists to the mother country, a 
repetition of ill-treatment must ultimately ahenate 
their affections. They listened not to his advice. 
They blindly persevered in their own schemes, and 
left to the colonists no alternative but opposition 
or unconditional submission. The latter accorded 



213 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

not with the principles of freedom which they had 
been taught to revere. To the former they were 
compelled, though rekictantly, to have recourse. 

Dr. Franklin finding all efforts to restore harmony 
-between Gi*eat Britain and her colonies useless, re- 
turned to America in the year 1775, just after the 
commencement of hostilities. The day after his 
return, he was elected by the legislature of Penn- 
sylvania a delegate to Congress. Not long after 
his election, a committee was appointed, consisting 
of Mr. Lynch, Mr. Harrison, and himself, to visit 
the camp at Cambridge, and, in conjunction with 
the commander-in-chief, to endeavour to convince 
the troops, whose term of enlistment was about to 
expire, of the necessity of their continuing in the 
field, and persevering in the cause of their country. 

In the fall of the same year he visited Canada, to 
endeavour to unite them in the common cause of 
liberty ; but they could not be prevailed upon to 
oppose the measures of the British government. 
M. le Roy, in a letter annexed to Abbe Fauchett's 
eulogium of Dr. Franklin, states that the ill success 
of this negotiation was occasioned in a great de- 
gree by rehgious animosities, which subsisted be- 
tween the Canadians and their neighbours, some of 
whom had, at different times, burned their chapels. 

When Lord Howe came to America in 1776, 
vested with power to treat with the colonists, a 
correspondence took place between him and Dr. 
FrankUn on the subject of a reconciliation. Dr. 
Franklin was afterward appointed, together with 
John Adams and Edward Rutledge, to wait upon 
the commissioners, in order to learn the extent of 
their powers. These were found to be only to 
grant pardons upon submission. These were terms 
which could not be accepted, and the object of the 
commissioners could not be obtained. 

The momentous question of independence was 
ehortly after brought Into view, at a time when th« 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 213 

fleets and armies which were sent to enforce obe- 
dience were truly formidable. With an army, nu- 
merous indeed, but ignorant of discipline, and en- 
tirely unskilled in the art of war, without money, 
without a fleet, without allies, and with nothing but 
the love of hberty to support them, the colonists 
determined to separate from a country from which 
ihey had experienced a repetition of injury and in- 
sult. In this question Dr. Franklin was decidedly 
in favour of the measure proposed, and had great in- 
fluence in bringing others over to his sentiments. 

The public mind had been already prepared for 
this event by Mr. Paine's celebrated pamphlet, 
Common Sense. There is good reason to believe 
that Dr. Franklin had no inconsiderable share at 
least in furnishing materials for this work. 

In the convention which assembled at Philadel- 
phia in 1776, for the purpose of establishing a new 
form of government for the State of Pennsylvania, 
Dr. Franklin was chosen president. The late con- 
stitution of this state, which was the result of their 
deliberations, may be considered as a digest of his 
principles of government. The single legislature 
and the plural executive seem to have been his fa- 
vourite tenets. 

In the latter end of 1776, Dr. Franklin was ap- 
pointed to assist at the negotiation which had been 
set on foot by Silas Deane, at the court of France. 
A conviction of the advantages of a commercial in- 
tercourse with America, and a desire of weakening 
the British empire by dismembering it, first induced 
the French court to listen to proposals of an alli- 
ance. But they showed rather a reluctance to the 
measure, which, by Dr. Franklin's address, and par- 
ticularly by the success of the American arms against 
General Burgoyne, was at length overcome ; and in 
February, 1778, a treaty of alliance, offensive and 
defensive, was concluded ; in consequence of which, 



214 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

France became involved in the war with Great 
Britain. 

Perhaps no person could have been found more 
capable of rendering essential services to the United 
States at the court of France than Dr. Franklin. 
He was well known as a philosopher, and his char- 
acter was held in the highest estimation. He was 
received with the greatest, marks of respect by all 
the literary characters, and this respect was extend- 
ed among all classes of men. His personal influ- 
ence was hence very considerable. To the effects 
of this were added those of various performances 
which he published, tending to establish the credit 
and character of the United" States. To his exer- 
tions in this way may, in no small degree, be ascri- 
bed the success of the loans negotiated in Holland 
and France, which greatly contributed to bringing 
the war to a happy conclusion. 

The repeated ill success of their arms, and more 
particularly the capture of Cornwallis and his army, 
at length convinced the British nation of the impos- 
sibility of reducing the Americans to subjection. 
The trading interest particularly became clamorous 
for peace. The ministry were unable longer to op- 
pose their wishes. Provisional articles of peace 
were agreed to, and signed at Paris, on the 30th of 
November, 1782, by Dr. Franklin, Mr. Adams, Mr. 
Jay, and Mr. Laurens, on the part of the United 
States, and by Mr. Oswald on the part of Great Brit- 
ain. These formed the basis of the definitive treaty, 
which was concluded the 3d of September, 1783, 
and signed by Dr. Franklin, Mr. Adams, and Mr. 
Jay on the one part, and by Mr. David Hartly on 
the other. 

On the 3d of April, 1783, a treaty of Amity and 
Commerce between the United States and Sweden, 
was concluded at Paris by Dr. Franklin and the 
Count Von Krutz. 

A similar treaty with Prussia was concluded in 



LIPB OP FRANKLIN. 215 

1785, not long before Dr. Franklin's departure from 
Europe. 

Dr. Franklin did not suffer his political pursuits to 
engross his whole attention. Some of his perform- 
ances made their appearance in Paris. The objects 
of these were generally the promotion of industry 
and economy. 

In the year 1784, when animal magnetism made 
great noise in the world, particularly at Paris, it 
was thought a matter of such importance that the 
king appointed commissioners to examine into the 
foundation of this pretended science. Dr. Franklin 
was one of the number. After a fair and diligent 
examination, in the course of which Mesmer repeat- 
ed a number of experiments, in the presence of the 
commissioners, some of which were tried upon 
themselves, they determined that it was a mere 
trick, intended to impose upon the ignorant and 
credulous. Mesmer was thus interrupted in his ca- 
reer to wealth and fame, and a most insolent attempt 
to impose upon the human understanding baffled. 

The important ends of Dr. Franklin's mission be- 
ing completed by the establishment of American in- 
dependence, and the infirmities of age and disease 
coming upon him, he became desirous of returning 
to his native country. Upon application to Con- 
gress to be recalled, Mr. Jefferson was appointed to 
succeed him in 1785. Some time in September of 
the same year Dr. Franklin arrived in Philadelphia. 
He was shortly after chosen a member of the su- 
preme executive council for the city, and soon after 
was elected president of the same. 

When a convention was called to meet in Phila- 
delphia, in 1787, for the purpose of giving more 
energy to the government of the union, by revising 
and amending the articles of confederation. Dr. 
Franklin was appointed a delegate from the State 
of Pennsylvania. He signed the constitution which 



216 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

they proposed for the union, and gave it the most 
unequivocal marks of his approbation. 

A society for political inquiries, of which Dr. 
Frankhn was president, was estabhshed about this 
period. The meetings were held at his house. Two 
or three essays read in this society were published. 
It did not long continue. 

In the year 1787, two societies were established in 
Philadelphia, founded on the principles of the most 
liberal and refined humanity : The Philadelphia So- 
ciety for alleviating the miseries of public prisons : and 
the Pennsylvania Society for prornoting the abolition 
of slavery, the relief of free negroes unlawfully held in 
bondage, and the improvement of the condition of the 
African race. Of each of these Dr. Franklin waa 
president. The labours of these bodies have been 
crowned with great success ; and they continue to 
prosecute, with unwearied diligence, the laudable 
designs for which they were established. 

Dr. Franklin's increasing infirmities prevented hia 
regular attendance at the council chamber, and in 
1788 he retiTed wholly from public life. 

His constitution had been a remarkably good one. 
He had been little subject to disease, except an at- 
tack of the gout occasionally, until about the year 
1781, when he was first attacked with symptoms oi 
the calculous complaint, which continued during his 
life. During the intervals of pain from this grievous 
disease, he spent many cheerful hours, conversing 
in the most agreeable and instructive manner. His 
faculties were entirely unimpaired, even to the hour 
of his death. 

His name, as president of the abolition society, 
•was signed to the memorial presented to the House 
of Representatives of the United States, on the 12th 
of February, 1789, praying them to exert the full 
extent of power vested in them by the constitution 
in discouraging the traffic in the human species. 
This was his last public act. In the debates to which 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 217 

this memorial gave rise, several attempts were made 
to justify the trade. In the Federal Gazette of 
March 25, there appeared an essay, signed Histori- 
cus, written by Dr. Franklin, in which he communi- 
cated a speech, said to have been delivered in the 
Divan of Algiers, in 1687, in opposition to the prayer 
of the petition of a sect called Erika, or purists, for 
the abolition of piracy and slavery. This pretended 
African speech was an excellent parody of one de- 
livered by Mr. Jackson, of Georgia. All the argu- 
ments urged in favour of negro slavery are applied 
with equal force to justify the plundering and en- 
slaving of Europeans. It affords, at the same time, 
a demonstration of the futility of the arguments in 
defence of the slave-trade, and of the strength of 
mind and ingenuity of the author, at his advanced 
period of life. It furnished, too, a no less con- 
vincing proof of his power of imitating the style of 
other times and nations than his celebrated parable 
against persecution. And as the latter led many 
persons to search the scriptures with a view to find 
it, so the former caused many persons to search the 
bookstores and libraries for the work from which it 
was said to be extracted. 

During the greatest part of his life Dr. Franklin 
had enjoyed an almost uninterrupted state of good 
health, and this he entirely attributed to his exem- 
plary temperance. 

In the year 1735, indeed, he had been seized with 
a pleurisy, which ended in a suppuration of the left 
lobe of the lungs, so that he was almost suffocated 
by the quantity of matter thrown up. But from 
this, as well as from another attack of the same 
kind, he recovered so completely, that his breathing 
was not in the least affected. 

As he advanced in years, however, he became sub- 
ject to fits of the gout, to which, in 1782, a nephritic 
cholic was superadded. From this time he was also 
affected with the stone as well as the gout ; and for 

Vol. I.— 19 



218 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

the last twelve months of his life these complaints 
almost entirely confined him to his bed. 

Notwithstanding his distressed situation, neither 
his mental faculties nor his natural cheerfulness ever 
forsook him. His memory was tenacious to the very 
last ; and he seemed to be an exception to the gen- 
eral rule, that, at a certain period of life, the organs 
which are subservient to this faculty become cal- 
lous ; a remarkable instance of which is, that he 
learned to speak French after he had attained the 
age of seventy ! 

In the beginning of April following, he was at- 
tacked with a fever and complaint of his breast, 
which terminated his existence. The following ac- 
count of his last illness was written by his friend 
and physician, Dr. Jones. 

"The stone, with which he had been afflicted for 
several years, had for the last twelve months con- 
fined him chiefly to his bed ; and during the ex- 
treme painful paroxysms, he was obliged to take 
large doses of laudanum to mitigate his tortures ; 
still, in the intervals of pain, he not only amused 
himself with reading and conversing cheerfully with 
his family, and a few friends who visited him, but 
was often employed in doing business of a public 
as well as private nature, with various persons 
who waited on him for that purpose ; and in every 
mstance displayed not only that readiness and dis- 
position of doing good which was the distinguish- 
ing characteristic of his life, but the fullest and 
clearest possession of his uncommon mental abil- 
ities, and not unfrequently indulged himself in those 
jeux (Tesprit and entertaining anecdotes which were 
the delight of all who heard him. 

" About sixteen days before his death, he was 
seized with a feverish indisposition, without any 
particular symptoms attending it, till the third or 
fourth day, when he complained of a pain in his left 
breast, which increased till it became extremely 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN, 219 

acute, attended with a cough and labourious breath- 
ing. During this state, when the severity of his 
pain sometimes drew forth a groan of complaint, he 
would observe, that he was afraid he did not bear 
them as he ought, acknowledged his grateful sense 
of the many blessings he had received from that 
Supreme Being who had raised him from small and 
low beginnings to such high rank and consideration 
among men, and made no doubt but his present af- 
flictions were kindly intended to wean him from a 
world in which he was no longer fit to act the part 
assigned him. In this frame of body and mind he 
continued till five days before his death, when his 
pain and difficulty of breathing entirely left him, and 
his family were flattering themselves with the hopes 
of his recovery, w^hen an imposthumation, which 
had formed itself in his lungs, suddenly burst, and 
discharged a great quantity of matter, which he con- 
tinued to throw up while he had sufficient strength 
to do it ; but as that failed, the organs of respiration 
became gradually oppressed, a calm lethargic state 
succeeded, and, on the 17th of April, 1790, about 
eleven o'clock at night, he quietly expired, closing 
a long and useful life of eighty-four years and three 
months."* 

The following account of his funeral, and the hon- 
ours paid to his memory, is derived from an anon- 
ymous source, but is correct. 

" All that was mortal of this great man was inter- 
red on the 21st of April, in the cemetery of Christ 
Church, Philadelphia, m that part adjoining to Arch- 
street, N. W. corner, in order that, if a monument 

♦ Three days pre^^ous to his decease, he desired his daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Sarah Bache, to have his bed made, "tra order that he 
might die in a decent manner,''^ as was his expression; an idea 
probably suggested by an acquaintance with the custom of the 
ancients. Mrs. Bache having replied that she hoped he would 
recover, and Uve many years longer, he instantly rejoined, " / 
hope noty 



220 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

should be erected over his grave, it might be seen 
to more advantage. 

" Never v^^as any funeral so numerously and so re- 
spectably attended in any part of the States of Amer- 
ica. The concourse of people assembled upon this 
occasion was immense. All the bells in the city 
were muffled, and the very newspapers were pub- 
lished with black borders. The body was interred 
amid peals of artillery ; and nothing was omitted 
that could display the veneration of the citizens for 
such an illustrious character. 

" The Congress ordered a general mourning for 
one month throughout America ; the National As- 
sembly of France paid the same compliment for 
three days ; and the commons of Paris, as an extra- 
ordinary tribute of honour to his memory, assisted 
in a body at the funeral oration, dehvered by the 
Abbe Fauchet, in the rotunda of the corn-market, 
which was hung with black, illuminated with chan- 
deliers, and decorated with devices analogous to the 
occasion. 

" Dr. Smith, provost of the college of Philadel- 
phia, and David Rittenhouse, one of its members, 
were selected by the Philosophical Society to pre- 
pare a eulogium to the memory of its founder; and 
the subscribers to the City Library, who had just 
erected a handsome building for containing their 
books, left a vacant niche for a statue of their ben- 
efactor. 

" This has since been placed there by the munifi- 
cence of an estimable citizen of Philadelphia. It 
was imported from Italy; the name of the artist is 
Francis Lazzarini ; it is composed of Carara marble, 
and cost 500 guineas. 

"It was the first piece of sculpture of that size 
which had been seen in America. Franklin is rep- 
resented in a standing posture ; one arm is support- 
ed by means of some books, in his right hand he 
holds an inverted sceptre, an emblem of anti-mo- 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 221 

narchical principles, and in his left a scroll of paper. 
He is dressed in a Roman toga. The resemblance 
is correct ; the head is a copy from the excellent 
bust produced by the chisel of Houdon. The fol- 
lowing inscription is engraven on the pedestal : 

THIS STATUE 
OF 

DR, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 

WAS PRESENTED BY 

WILLIAM BINGHAM, Esq., 
1793. 

" Franklin's life," says tlie anonymous writer of 
the foregoing, " affords one of the finest moral les- 
sons that can be offered up to the admiration, the 
applause, or the imitation of mankind. 

"As a man, we have beheld him practising and 
inculcating the virtues of frugality, temperance, 
and industry. 

" As a citizen, we have seen him repelling the 
efforts of tyranny, and ascertaining the liberty of 
his countrymen. 

" As a legislator, he affords a bright example of a 
genius soaring above corruption, and continually 
aiming at the happiness of his constituents. 

" As a politician, we survey him, on one hand, 
acquiring the aid of a powerful nation, by means of 
his skilful negotiations ; and on the other, calling 
forth the common strength of a congress of repub- 
lics, by fixing a central point to which they could 
all look up, and concentrating their common force 
for the purposes of union, harmony, legislation, and 
defence. 

" As a philosopher, his labours and his discover- 
ies are calculated to advance the interests of hu- 
19* 



222 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

manity : he might, indeed, have been justly termed 
tlie friend of man, the benefactor of the universe! 

" The pursuits and occupations of his early youth 
afford a most excellent and instructive example to 
the young ; his middle life, to the adult ; his advan- 
ced years, to the aged. From him the poor may 
learn to acquire wealth, and the rich to adapt it to 
the purposes of beneficence. 

" In regard to his character, he was rather sen- 
tentious than fluent ; more disposed to listen than 
to talk; a judicious rather than an imposing com- 
panion. He was what, perhaps, every able man is, 
impatient of interruption ; for he used to mention 
the custom of the Indians with great applause, who, 
after listening with a profound attention to the ob- 
servations of each other, preserve a respectful si- 
lence for some minutes before they begin their own 
reply. 

" He was polite in his manners, and never gave a 
pointed contradiction to the assertions of his friends 
or his antagonists, but treated every argument with 
great calmness, and conquered his adversaries rath- 
er by the force of reason than assertion." 

The advice of his death reached France at a pe- 
riod well adapted to excite great emotions : and in 
the National Assembly, Uth June, 1790, Mr. Mira- 
beau the elder addressed the assembly as follows : 

"Franklin is dead!" 

[A profound silence reigned throughout the hall.] 

" The genius which gave freedom to America and 
scattered torrents of light upon Europe, is returned 
to the bosom of the Divinity I 

" The sage whom two worlds claim ; the man, 
disputed by the history of the sciences and the his- 
tory of empires, holds, most undoubtedly, an eleva- 
ted rank among the human species. 

" Political cabinets have but too long notified the 
death of those who were never great but in their fu- 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 223 

neral orations ; the etiquette of courts has but too 
long sanctioned hypocritical grief. Nations ought 
only to mourn for their benefactors ; the represent- 
atives of free men ought never to recommend any 
other than the heroes of humanity to their hom- 
age. 

" The Congress hath ordered a general mourning 
for one month throughout the fourteen confederated 
states, on account of the death of Franklin; and 
America hath thus acquitted her tribute of admira- 
tion in behalf of one of the fathers of her consti- 
tution. 

"Would it not be worthy of you, fellow-legisla- 
tors, to unite yourselves in this religious act, to par- 
ticipate in this homage rendered in the face of the 
universe to the rights of man, and to the philoso- 
pher who has so eminently propagated the conquest 
of them throughout the world 1 

"Antiquity would have elevated altars to that 
mortal who, for the advantage of the human race, 
embracing both heaven and earth in his vast and 
extensive mind, knew how to subdue thunder and 
tyranny ! 

" Enlightened and free, Europe at least owes its 
remembrance and its regret to one of the greatest 
men who has ever served the cause of philosophy 
and of liberty. 

" I propose that a decree do now pass, enacting 
that the National Assembly shall wear mourning 
during three days for Benjamin Franklin." 

MM. de la Rochefoucault and Lafayette imme- 
diately rose in order to second this motion. 

The assembly adopted it, at first by acclamation ; 
and afterward decreed, by a large majority, amid 
the plaudits of all the spectators, that on Monday, 
14th of June, it should go into mourning for three 
days ; that the discourse of M. Mirabeau should be 
printed ; and that the president should write a let- 



224 LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 

ter of condolence upon the occasion to the Con- 
gress of America.* 

The following character of Dr. Frankhn, hy ono 
of his intimate friendss, is so ably and accurately 
drawn, that we cannot refrain adding it to the fore- 
going. 

" There is in the character of every distinguished 
person something to admire and something to imi- 
tate. The incidents that have marked the life of 
a great man always excite curiosity and often afford 
improvement. If there be talents which we can 
never expect to equal, if there be a series of good 
fortune which we can never expect to enjoy, we 
still need not lose the labour of our biographical 
inquiries. We may probably become acquainted 
with habits which it may be prudent to adopt, and 
discover virtues which we cannot fail to applaud. 
It will be easy for the reader to make a full appli- 
cation of these remarks in his contemplations upon 
the late celebrated Dr. Franklin. By his death one 
of the best lights of the world may be said to be 
extinguished. I shall not attempt any historical de- 
tails of the life of this illustrious patriot and philos- 

* The Congress of the United States thus expressed their 
sentiments in return. 

Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the Presi- 
dent of the United States be requested to cause to be commu- 
nicated to the National Assembly of France, the peculiar sen- 
sibility of Congress to the tribute paid to the memory of Ben- 
jamin Franklin by the enlightened and free representatives of 
a great nation, in their decree of the eleventh June, one thou- 
sand seven hundred and ninety. 

Signed, Fred. Aug. Muhlenberg, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
John Adams, 

Vice-President of the United States and 
President of the Senate. 
Approved, March the 2d, 1791. 
Signed, GEORGE WASHINGTON, 

President of the United State*. 



LIFE OP FRANKLIN. 225 

opher, as I have nothing farther in view than to 
make a few comments upon the most striking traits 
of his character. 

" Original genius was pecuharly his attribute. 
The native faculties of his mind qualified him to 
penetrate into every science ; and his unremitted 
diligence left no field of knowledge unexplored. 
There were no limits to his curiosity. His inqui- 
ries were spread over the whole fac^ of nature. 
But the study of man seemed to be his highest de- 
light : and if his genius had any special bias, it lay 
in discovering those things that made men wiser 
and happier. As truth was the sole object of his re- 
searches, he was, of course, no sectary : and as rea- 
son was his guide, he embraced no system which 
that did not authorize. In short, he laid the whole 
volume of nature open before him, and diligently 
and faithfully perused it. 

" Nor were his political attainments less conspic- 
uous than his philosophical. The ancients usually 
ranked good fortune among those circumstances of 
life which indicate merit. In this view Dr. Frank- 
lin is almost unrivalled, having seldom undertaken 
more than he accomplished. The world are too 
well acquainted with the events of his political ca- 
reer to require, at this time, a particular enumera- 
tion of them. It may be presumed the historians of 
the American revolution will exhibit them in prop- 
er colours. 

" If Dr. Frankhn did not aspire after the splendour 
of eloquence, it was only because the demonstrative 
plainness of his manner was superior to it. Though 
he neither loved political debate nor excelled in it, 
he still preserved much influence in public assem- 
blies, and discovered an aptitude in his remarks on 
all occasions. He was not fond of taking a leading 
part in such investigations as could never terminate 
in any degree of certainty. To come forward in 
questions which, in their nature, are indefinite, and 



226 LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 

in their issue problematical, does not comport with 
the caution of a man who has taught himself to 
look for demonstration. He reserved his observa- 
tions for those cases which science could enlighten 
and common sense approve. The simplicity of his 
style was well adapted to the clearness of his un- 
derstanding. His conceptions were so bright and 
perfect, that he did not choose to involve them in a 
cloud of expressions. If he used metaphors, it was 
to illustrate, and not to embellish the truth. A man 
possessing such a lively imagery of ideas should 
never affect the arts of a vain rhetorician, whose 
excellence consists only in a beautiful arrangement 
of words. 

" But whatever claims to eminence Dr. Franklin 
may have as a politician or a scholar, there is no 
point of light in which his character shines with 
with more lustre than when we view him as a man 
or a citizen. He was eminently great in common 
things. Perhaps no man ever existed whose life 
can, with more justice, be denominated useful. No- 
thing ever passed through his hands without receiv- 
ing improvement, and no person ever went into his 
company without gaining wisdom. His sagacity 
was so sharp and his science so various, that, what- 
ever might be the profession or occupation of those 
with whom he conversed, he could meet every one 
upon his own ground. He could enliven every con- 
versation with an anecdote, and conclude it with a 
moral. 

" The whole tenour of his life was a perpetual 
lecture against the idle, the extravagant, and the 
proud. It was his principal aim to inspire mankind 
with a love of industry, temperance, and frugality, 
and to inculcate such duties as promote the impor- 
tant interests of humanity. He never wasted a mo- 
ment of time, or lavished a farthing of money in 
folly or dissipation. Such expenses as the dignity 
of his station required he readily sustained, limiting 



EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIn's WILL. 227 

them by the strictest rules of propriety. Many pub- 
lic institutions experienced his well-timed liberality, 
and he manifested a sensibility of heart by numer- 
ous acts of private charity. 

" By a judicious division of time, Dr. Franklin 
acquired the art of doing everything to advantage, 
and his amusements were of such a nature as could 
never militate with the main objects of his pursuit. 
In whatever situation he was placed by chance or 
design, he extracted something useful for himself 
or others. His life was remarkably full of incident. 
Every circumstance of it turned to some valuable 
account. The maxims which his discerning mind 
has formed apply to innumerable cases and charac- 
ters. Those who move in the lowest, equally with 
those who move in the most elevated rank in soci- 
ety, may be guided by his instructions. In the pri- 
vate deportment of his life, he in many respects 
has furnished a most excellent model. His man- 
ners were easy and accommodating, and his address 
winning and respectful. All who knew him speak 
of him as a most agreeable man, and all who have 
heard of him applaud him as a very useful one. A 
man so wise and so amiable could not but have 
many admirers and many friends." 

The following are extracts from the will and cod- 
icil of Dr. Franklin : 

******** 

" With regard to my books, those I had in France 
and those I left in Philadelphia being now assem- 
bled together here, and a catalogue made of them, it 
is my intention to dispose of the same as follows : 
My 'History of the Academy of Sciences,' in six- 
ty or seventy volumes quarto, I give to the Phil- 
osophical Society of Philadelphia, of which 1 have 
the honour to be president. My collection in folio, 
of 'Les Arts et les Metiers' [Arts and Trade], I 
give to the American Philosophical Society, estab- 



228 EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIN's WILL. 

lished in New-England, of which I am a member. 
My quarto edition of the same, ' Arts et Metiers,' 
I give to the Library Company of Philadelphia. 
Such and so many of my books as 1 shall mark on 
the said catalogue with the name of my grandson 
Benjamin Franklin Bache, I do hereby give to him : 
and such and so many of my books as 1 shall mark 
on the said catalogue with the name of my grandson 
William Bache, 1 do hereby give to him : and such 
as shall be marked with the name of Jonathan 
WiUiams, I hereby give to my cousin of that name. 
The residue and remainder of all my books, manu- 
scripts, and papers, I do give to my grandson Wil- 
liam Temple Franklin. My share in the Library 
Company of Philadelphia I give to my grandson 
Benjamin Franklin Bache, confiding that he will 
permit his brothers and sisters to share in the use 
of it. 

" I was born in Boston, New-England, and owe my 
first instructions in literature to the free grammar- 
schools established there. I therefore give one 
hundred pounds sterling to my executors, to be by 
them, the survivers or surviver of them, paid over 
to the managers or directors of the freeschools in 
my native town of Boston, to be by them, or those 
persons or person who shall have the superintend- 
ance and management of the said schools, put out 
to interest, and so continued at interest for ever; 
which interest annually shall be laid out in silver 
medals, and given as honorary rewards annually by 
the directors of the said freeschools, for the en- 
couragement of scholarship in the said schools, be- 
longing to the said town, in such manner as to the 
discretion of the selectmen of the said town shall 
seem meet. Out of the salary that may remain 
due to me as president of the state, I do give the 
sum of two thousand pounds to my executors, to be 
by them, the survivers or surviver of them, paid over 
to such person or persons as the legislature of this 
state, by an act of Assembly, shall appoint to re- 



EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIN's WILL. 229 

ceive the same, in trust, to be employed for making 
the Schuylkill navigable. 

" During the number of years I was in business as 
a stationer, printer, and postmaster, a great many 
small sums became due to me, for books, advertise- 
ments, postage of letters, and other matters, which 
were not collected, when, in 1757, I was sent by 
the Assembly to England as their agent, and by 
subsequent appointments continued there till 1775 ; 
when, on my return, I was immediately engaged in 
the affairs of Congress, and sent to France in 1776, 
where I remained nine years, not returning till 
1785; and the said debts not being demanded in 
such a length of time, have become in a manner ob- 
solete, yet are nevertheless justly due. These, as 
they are stated in my great folio leger E, I be- 
queath to the contributors of the Pennsylvania Hos- 
pital, hoping that those debtors, and the descendants 
of such as are deceased, who now, as I find, make 
some difficulty of satisfying such antiquated de- 
mands as just debts, may, however, be induced to 
pay or give them as charity to that excellent insti- 
tution. I am sensible that much must inevitably be 
lost, but I hope something considerable may be re- 
ceived. It is possible, too, that some of the par- 
ties charged may have existing old unsettled ac- 
counts against me : in which case the managers of 
the said hospital will allow and deduct the amount, 
or pay the balances, if they find it against me. 
♦ ♦ * * * * # * 

" I request my friends, Henry Hill, Esq., John Jay, 
Esq., Francis Hopkinson, Esq., and Mr. Edward Duf- 
field, of Benfield, in Philadelphia county, to be the 
executors of this my last will and testament, and I 
hereby nominate and appoint them for that purpose. 

" I would have my body buried with as little ex- 
pense or ceremony as may be. 
*^***#* #*# 

" Philadelphia, July 17, 1788." 

Vol. I.— 20 



230 EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIN's WILL. 



CODICIL. 

*' I, Benjamin Franklin, in the foregoing or annex- 
ed last will and testament named, having farther con- 
sidered the same, do think proper to make and pub- 
lish the following codicil or addition thereto : 

" It having long been a fixed political opinion of 
mine, that in a democratical state there ought to 
be no offices of profit, for the reasons I had given 
in an article of my drawing in our constitution, it 
was my intention, when 1 accepted the office of 
president, to devote the appointed salary to some 
public uses : accordingl5% 1 had, before 1 made my 
will in July last, given large sums of it to colle- 
ges, schools, building of churches, &c. ; and in 
that will I bequeathed two thousand pounds more 
to the state, for the purpose of making the Schuyl- 
kill navigable ; but understanding since that such 
a sum will do but little towards accomplishing 
such a work, and that the project is not likely to 
be undertaken for many years to come ; and hav- 
ing entertained another idea, that I hope may be 
more extensively useful, I do hereby revoke and 
annul that bequest, and direct that the certificates I 
have for what remains due to me of that salary be 
sold towards raising the sum of two thousand pounds 
sterling, to be disposed of as I am now about to 
order. 

" It has been an opinion, that he who receives an 
estate from his ancestors is under some kind of ob- 
ligation to transmit the same to his posterity. This 
obligation does not lie on me, who never inherited 
a shilling from any ancestor or relation. I shall, 
however, if it is not diminished by some accident 
before my death, leave a considerable estate among 
my descendants and relations. The above obser- 
vation is made merely as some apology to my fara- 



ily for my making bequests that do not appear to 
have any immediate relation to their advantage. 

" I was born in Boston, New-England, and owe my 
first instructions in literature to the free grammar- 
schools established there. I have, therefore, al- 
ready considered those schools in my will. But I 
am also under obligations to the state of Massachu- 
setts for having, unasked, appointed me formerly 
their agent in England, with a handsome salary, 
which continued some years ; and although I acci- 
dentally lost in their service, by transmitting Gov- 
ernor Hutchinson's letters, much more than the 
amount of what they gave me, I do not think that 
ought in the least to diminish my gratitude. I 
have considered that among artisans, good appren- 
tices are most likely to make good citizens ; and 
having myself been bred to a manual art, print- 
ing, in my native town, and afterward assisted 
to set up my business in Philadelphia by kind 
loans of money from two friends there, which was 
the foundation of my fortune, and of all the util- 
ity in life that may be ascribed to me, I wish to 
be useful, even after my death, if possible, in form- 
ing and advancing other young men, that may be 
serviceable to their country in both these towns. 
To this end I devote two thousand pounds ster- 
ling, which I give, one thousand thereof to the in- 
habitants of the town of Boston, in Massachusetts, 
and the other thousand to the inhabitants of the city 
of Philadelphia, in trust, to and for the uses, intents, 
and purposes herein after mentioned and declared. 
The said sum of one thousand pounds sterling, if 
accepted by the inhabitants of the town of Boston, 
shall be managed under the direction of the select- 
men, united with the ministers of the oldest Episco- 
palian, Congregational, and Presbyterian churches 
in that town, who are to let out the same upon in- 
terest at five per cent, per annum, to such young 
married artificers, under the age of twenty-five 



232 EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIn's WILL. 

years, as have served an apprenticeship in the said 
town, and faithfully fulfilled the duties required in 
their indentures, so as to obtain a good moral char- 
acter from at least two respectable citizens, who are 
willing to become their sureties in a bond, with the 
applicants, for the repayment of the money so lent, 
with interest, according to the terms hereinafter 
prescribed; all which bonds are to be taken for 
Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in cur- 
rent gold coin : and the managers shall keep a bound 
book or books, wherein shall be entered the names 
of those who shall apply for and receive the bene- 
fit of this institution, and of their sureties, together 
with the sums lent, the dates, and other necessary 
and proper records respecting the business and 
concerns of this institution : and as these loans are 
intended to assist young married artificers in setting 
up their business, they are to be proportioned by the 
discretion of the managers, so as not to exceed six- 
ty pounds sterling to one person, nor to be less than 
fifteen pounds. And if the number of appliers so 
entitled should be so large as that the sum will not 
suffice to afford to each as much as might other- 
wise not be improper, the proportion to each shall 
be diminished, so as to aflford every one some as- 
sistance. These aids may, therefore, be small at 
first ; but as the capital increases by the accumu- 
lated interest, they will be more ample. And in 
order to serve as many as possible in their turn, 
as well as to make the repayment of the principal 
borrowed more easy, each borrower shall be obli- 
ged to pay, with the yearly interest, one tenth part of 
the principal ; which sums of principal and interest 
so paid in shall be again let out to fresh borrow- 
ers. And as it is presumed that there will al- 
ways be found in Boston virtuous and benevolent 
citizens willing to bestow a part of their time in 
doing good to the rising generation, by superintend- 
ing and managing this institution gratis, it is hoped 



that no part of the money will at any time be dead 
or diverted to other purposes, but be continually 
augmenting by the interest, in which case there 
may, in time, be more than the occasion in Boston 
shall require : and then some may be spared to the 
neighbouring or other towns in the said state of 
Massachusetts, which may desire to have it, such 
towns engaging to pay punctually the interest, and 
the proportions of the principal annually to the in- 
habitants of the town of Boston. If this plan is ex- 
ecuted, and succeeds, as is projected, without inter- 
ruption for one hundred years, the sum will then be 
one hundred and thirty-one thousand pounds, of 
which I would have the managers of the donation 
to the town of Boston then lay out, at their discre- 
tion, one hundred thousand pounds in public works, 
which may be judged of most general utility to the 
inhabitants, such as fortifications, bridges, aque- 
ducts, public buildings, baths, pavements, or what- 
ever may make living in the town more convenient 
to its people, and render it more agreeable to stran- 
gers resorting thither for health or a temporary resi- 
dence. The remaining thirty-one thousand pounds I 
would have continued to be let out on interest, in the 
manner above directed, for another hundred years ; 
as I hope it will have been found that the institution 
has had a good effect on the conduct of youth, and 
been of service to many worthy characters and use- 
ful citizens. At the end of this second term, if no 
unfortunate accident has prevented the operation, 
the sum will be four millions and sixty-one thou- 
sand pounds sterhng, of which I leave one milhon 
and sixty-one thousand pounds to the disposition 
and management of the inhabitants of the town of 
Boston, and three millions to the disposition of the 
government of the state, not presuming to carry 
my views farther. 

" All the directions herein given respecting the dis- 
position and management of the donation to the in- 
20* 



habitants of Boston, I would have observed respect- 
ing that to the inhabitants of Philadelphia ; only, as 
Philadelphia is incorporated, I request the corpora- 
tion of that city to undertake the management 
agreeably to the said directions, and I do hereby 
vest them with full and ample powers for that pur- 
pose. And having considered that the covering its 
ground-plat with buildings and pavements, which 
carry off most of the rain, and prevent its soaking 
into the earth, and renewing and purifying the 
springs, whence the water of the wells must gradu- 
ally grow worse, and, in time, be unfit for use, as I find 
has happened in all old cities, I recommend that, 
at the end of the first hundred years, if not done be- 
fore, the corporation of the city employ a part of 
the hundred thousand pounds in bringing by pipes 
the water of Wissahiccon Creek into the town, so as 
to supply the inhabitants, which I apprehend may 
be done without great difficulty, the level of that 
creek being much above that of the city, and may 
be made higher by a dam. I also recommend 
making the Schuylkill completely navigable. At 
the end of the second hundred years, I would have 
the disposition of the four millions and sixty-one 
thousand pounds divided between the inhabitants of 
the city of Philadelphia and the government of 
Pennsylvania, in the same manner as herein direct- 
ed with respect to that of the inhabitants of Bos- 
ton and the government of Massachusetts. It is 
my desire that this institution should take place 
and begin to operate within one year after my de- 
cease ; for which purpose due notice should be pub- 
licly given previous to the expiration of that year, 
that those for whose benefit this establishment is 
intended may make their respective appHcations ; 
and I hereby direct my executor, the survivers or 
surviver of them, within six months after my de- 
cease, to pay over the said sum of two thousand 
pounds sterling to such persons as shall be duly ap- 



EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIN's WILL. 235 

pointed by the selectmen of Boston and the corpo- 
ration of Philadelphia to receive and take charge of 
their respective sums of one thousand pounds each 
for the purposes aforesaid. Considering the acci- 
dents to which all human affairs and projects are 
subject in such a length of time, I have, perhaps, 
too much flattered myself with a vain fancy that 
these dispositions, if carried into execution, will be 
continued without interruption, and have the effects 
proposed ; 1 hope, however, that if the inhabitants of 
the two cities should not think fit to undertake the 
execution, they will at least accept the offer of these 
donations as a mark of my good-wil], a token of my 
gratitude, and a testimony of my earnest desire to 
be useful to them even after my departure. I wish, 
indeed, that they may both undertake to endeavour 
the execution of the project, because I think that, 
though unforeseen difficulties may arise, expedients 
will be found to remove them, and the scheme be 
found practicable. If one of them accepts the mon- 
ey with the conditions and the other refuses, my 
"will then is that both sums be given to the inhabi- 
tants of tlie city accepting, the whole to be applied 
to the same purpose and under the same regula- 
tions directed for the separate parts ; and if both re- 
fuse, the money remains, of course, in the mass of 
my estate, audit is to be disposed of therewith, ac- 
cording to my will made the seventeenth day of 
July, 1788. 1 wish to be buried by the side of my 
wife, if it may be, and that a marble stone, to be 
made by Chambers, six feet long, four feet wide, 
plain, with only a small moulding round the upper 
edge, and this inscription, 

Benjamin ) 

and > Franklin, 

Deborah S 

178-, be placed over us both. 
" My fine crabtree walking-stick, with a gold head, 
curiously wrought in the form of the Cap of Liber- 



236 EXTRACTS FROM FRANKLIN's WILL. 

ty, I give to my friend and the friend of mankind, 
General Washington. If it were a sceptre, he has 
merited it, and would become it. It was a present 
to me from that excellent woman Madame de For- 
bach, the Dowager Duchess of Deux Fonts, con- 
nected with some verses which should go with it. 

♦' Philadelphia, 23d June, 1789." 

The following epitaph was written by Dr. Frank- 
lin for himself when he was only twenty-three years 
of age, as appears by the original (with various cor- 
rections), found among his papers, and from which 
this is a faithful copy : 

[Epitaph, written 1728.] 
"THE BODY 

OF 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, 

PRINTER, 

(like the cover of an old book, 

its contents torn out, 

and stripped of its lettering and gilding), 

lies here food for worms ; 

yet the work itself shall not be lost, 

for it will (as he believed) appear once more 

in a new and more elegant edition, 

revised and corrected 

THE AUTHOR." 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 



The Examination of Dr. Franklin before the British 
House of Commons^ relative to the Repeal of the 
American Stamp-act* 

1766, Feb. 3. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., and a 
number of other persons, were " ordered to attend 
the committee of the whole House of Commons, to 
whom it was referred to consider farther the sev- 
eral papers relative to America, which were pre- 
sented to the House by Mr. Secretary Conway, &c." 

* Tbe following appears to be the history of this celebrated 
Act: 

Until 1763, whenever Great Britain wanted supplies directly 
from the colonies, the secretary of state, in the king's name, 
sent them a letter of requisition, in which the occasion for the 
supplies was expressed ; and the colonies returned a free gift, 
the mode of levying which they wholly prescribed. At this pe- 
riod the chancellor of the exchequer (Mr. George Grenville)' 
says to the House of Commons, " We must call for money from 
the colonies in the way of a tax ;" and to the colony-agents, ^'Write 
to your several colonies, and tell them, if they dislike a duty upon 
stamps, and prefer any other method of raising the money themselves, 
1 shall be content, provided the amount be but raised." " That is," 
observed the colonies, when commenting upon his terms, " if 
we will not tax ourselves as we may be directed, the Parliament 
will tax us." Dr. Franklin's instructions, spoken of above, re- 
lated to this gracious option. As the colonies could not choose 
" another tax" while they disclaimed every tax, the Parliament 
passed the stamp-act. 

This act declared that the Americans should have no com- 
merce, make no exchange of property with each other, neither 
purchase, nor grant, nor recover debts ; they shall neither marry 
nor make their wills, unless they pay such and such sums in 
tpecie for the stamps which must give validity to the proceed- 



238 WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 

Q. What is your name and place of abode? 

A. Franklin, of Philadelphia. 

Q. Do the Americans pay any considerable taxes 
among themselves f 

A. Certainly, many, and very heavy taxes. 

Q. What are the present taxes in Pennsylvania, 
laid by the laws of the colony ? 

A. There are taxes on all estates, real and per- 
sonal ; a poll tax ; a tax on all offices, professions, 
trades, and businesses, according to their profits ; an 
excise on all wine, rum, and other spirits ; and a 
duty of ten pounds per head on all negroes import- 
ed, with some other duties. 

Q. For what purposes are those taxes laid 1 

A. For the support of the civil and military es- 
tablishments of the country, and to discharge the 
heavy debt contracted in the last war. 

Q. How long are those taxes to continue ? 

A. Those for discharging the debt are to continue 
till 1772, and longer if the debt should not be then 
all discharged. The others must always continue. 

Q, Was it not expected that the debt would have 
been sooner discharged? 

A. It was, when the peace was made with France 
and Spain. But a fresh war breaking out with the 
Indians, a fresh load of debt was incurred ; and the 
taxes, of course, continued longer by a new law. 

Q. Are not all the people very able to pay those 
taxes ? 

A. No. The frontier counties all along the conti- 
nent having been frequently ravaged by the enemy, 
and greatly impoverished, are able to pay very lit- 

ings. The operation of such a tax, its annual productiveness, 
on its introduction, was estimated by its proposer in the House 
of Commons at 100,000/. sterling. The colonies being already 
reduced to the necessity of having paper money, by sending to 
Britain the specie they collected in foreign trade, in order to 
make up for the deficiency of their other returns for Britain's 
manufactures ; there were doubts whether there could remain 
Bpecie sufficient to answer the tax. 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 239 

tie tax. And therefore, in consideration of their 
distresses, our late tax laws do expressly favour 
those counties, excusing the sufferers ; and I sup- 
pose the same is done in other governments. 

Q. Are not you concerned in the management of 
the postoffice in America? 

A. Yes. I am deputy postmaster-general of 
North America. 

Q. Don't you think the distribution of stamps hy 
post to all the inhabitants very practicable, if there 
was no opposition ? 

A. The posts only go along the seacoasts ; they 
do not, except in a few instances, go back into the 
country ; and if they did, sending for stamps by post 
would occasion an expense of postage, amounting, 
in many cases, to much more than that of the 
stamps themselves. * * * * 

Q. From the thinness of the back settlements, 
would not the stamp-act be extremely inconvenient 
to the inhabitants, if executed ? 

A. To be sure it would ; as many of the inhabi- 
tants could not get stamps when they had occasion 
for them, without taking long journeys, and spend- 
ing perhaps three or four pounds, that the crown 
might get sixpence. 

Q. Are not the colonies, from their circumstan- 
ces, very able to pay the stamp duty 1 

A. In my opinion there is not gold and silver 
enough in the colonies to pay the stamp duty for 
one year. 

Q. Don't you know that the money arising from 
the stamps was all to be laid out in America? 

A. I know it is appropriated by the act to the 
American service ; but it will be spent in the con- 
quered colonies, where the soldiers are ; not in the 
colonies that pay it. 

Q. Is there not a balance of trade due from the 
colonies where the troops are posted, that will bring 
back the money to the old colonies 1 



240 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

A. I think not. I believe very little would come 
back. 1 know of no trade likely to bring it back. 
I think it would come from the colonies where it 
was spent directly to England ; for I have always 
observed, that in every colony, the more plenty the 
means of remittance to rlngland, the more goods 
are sent for and the more trade with England car- 
ried on. 

Q. What number of white inhabitants do yoa 
think there are in Pennsylvania '? 

A. I suppose there may be about one hundred 
and sixty tiiousand 1 

Q. What number of them are Quakers'? 

A. Perhaps a third. 

Q. What number of Germans ? 

A. Perhaps another third; but I cannot speak 
with certainty. 

Q. Have any number of the Germans seen service 
as soldiers in Europe 1 

A. Yes, many of them, both in Europe and 
America. 

Q. Are they as much dissatisfied with the stamp 
duty as the English ? 

A. Yes, and more ; and with reason, as their 
stamps are, in many cases, to be double. 

Q. How many white men do you suppose there 
are in North America? 

A. About three hundred thousand, from sixteen 
to sixty years of age \ 

Q. What may be the amount of one year's im- 
ports into Pennsylvania from Britain ? 

A. I have been informed that our merchants com- 
pute the imports from Britain to be above jC500,000. 

Q. What may be the amount of the produce of 
your province exported to Britain"? 

A. It must be small, as we produce little that is 
wanted in Britain. I suppose it cannot exceed 
je40,000. 

Q. How, then, do you pay the balance 1 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 241 

A. The balance is paid by our produce carried to 
the West Indies (and sold in our own islands, or to 
the French, Spaniards, Danes, and Dutch) ; by the 
same produce carried to other colonies in North 
America (as to New-England, Nova Scotia, New- 
foundland, Carolina, and Georgia) ; by the same, 
carried to different parts of Europe (as Spain, Por- 
tugal, and Italy). In all which places we receive 
either money, bills of exchange, or commodities 
that suit for remittance to Britain ; which, together 
with all the profits on the industry of our merchants 
and mariners, arising in those circuitous voyages, 
and the freights made by their ships, centre finally 
to Britain to discharge the balance, and pay for Brit- 
ish manufactures continually used in the provinces, 
or sold to foreigners by our traders. 

Q. Have you heard of any difficulties lately laid 
on the Spanish trade 1 

A. Yes, I have heard that it has been greatly ob- 
structed by some new regulations, and by the Eng- 
lish men-of-war and cutters stationed all along the 
coast in America. 

Q. Do you think it right that America should be 
protected by this country, and pay no part of the 
expense 1 

A. That is not the case. The colonies raised, 
clothed, and paid, during the last war, near twenty- 
five thousand men, and spent many millions. 

Q. Were you not reimbursed by Parhament 1 

A. We were only reimbursed what, in your opin- 
ion, we had advanced beyond our proportion, or be- 
yond what might reasonably be expected from us ; 
and it was a very small part of what we spent. 
Pennsylvania, in particular, disbursed about jC500,- 
000 ; and the reimbursements, in the whole, did not 
exceed £60,000. 

Q. You have said that you pay heavy taxes in 
Pennsylvania ; what do they amount to in the pound ? 

A. The tax on all estates, real and personal, is 

Vol. I.— 21 



242 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

eighteen pence in the pound, fully rated; and the 
tax on the profits of trades and professions, with 
other taxes, do, I suppose, make full half a crown 
in the pound. 

Q. Do you know anything of the rate of exchange 
in Pennsylvania, and whether it has fallen lately 1 

A. It is commonly from one hundred and seventy 
to one hundred and seventy-five. 1 have heard that 
it has fallen lately from one hundred and seventy- 
five to one hundred and sixty-two and a half, ow- 
ing, I suppose, to their lessening their orders for 
goods; and when their debts to this country are 
paid, I think the exchange will probably be at par. 

Q. Do not you think the people of America would 
submit to pay the stamp duty if it was moderated! 

A. No, never, unless compelled by force of arms. 
* * « # 

Q, What was the temper of America towards 
Great Britain before the year 1763 T 

A. The best in the world. They submitted wil- 
lingly to the government of the crown, and paid in 
their courts obedience to acts of Parliament. Nu- 
merous as the people are in the several old provin- 
ces, they cost you nothing in forts, citadels, garri- 
sons, or armies, to keep them in subjection. They 
were governed by this country at the expense only 
of a little pen, ink, and paper: they were led by a 
thread. They had not only a respect, but an affec- 
tion for Great Britain ; for its laws, its customs, and 
manners ; and even a fondness for its fashions, that 
greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Brit- 
ain were always treated with particular regard ; to 
be an Old England-man was, of itself, a character 
of some respect, and gave a kind of rank among us. 

Q. And what is their temper now] 

A. Oh, very much altered. 

Q. Did you ever hear the authority of Parliament 
to make laws for America questioned till lately 1 

A, The authority of Parliament was allowed to 



WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 243 

be valid in all laws, except such as should lay inter- 
nal taxes. It was never disputed in laying duties 
to regulate commerce. 

Q. In what proportion had population increased 
in America 1 

A. I think the inhabitants of all the provinces to- 
gether, taken at a medium, double in about twenty- 
five years. But their demand for British manufac- 
tures increases much faster ; as the consumption is 
not merely in proportion to their numbers, but grows 
with the growing abihties of the same numbers to 
pay for them. In 1723, the whole importation from 
Britain to Pennsylvania was but about X*l 5,000 ster- 
ling; it is now near half a million. 

Q. In what light did the people of America use 
to consider the Parliament of Great Britain T 

A. They considered the Parliament as the great 
bulwark and security of their liberties and privile- 
ges, and always spoke of it with the utmost respect 
and veneration. Arbitrary ministers, they thought, 
might possibly, at times, attempt to oppress them ; 
but they relied on it that the Parliament, on appli- 
cation, would always give redress. They remem- 
bered, with gratitude, a strong instance of this, when 
a bill was brought into ParUament, with a clause to 
make royal instructions laws in the colonies, which 
the House of Commons would not pass, and it was 
thrown out. 

Q. And have they not still the same respect for 
Parliament T 

A. No, it is greatly lessened. 

Q. To what cause is that owing ? 

A. To a concurrence of causes; the restraints 
lately laid on their trade, by which the bringing of 
foreign gold and silver into the colonies was pre- 
vented; the prohibition of making paper money 
among themselves,* and then demanding a new and 

* Some of the colonies had been reduced to the necessity of 
bartering, from the want of a medium of traffic. 



244 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

heavy tax by stamps, taking away, at the same time, 
trials by juries, and refusing to receive and hear 
their humble petitions. 

Q. Don't you think they would submit to the 
stamp-act if it was modified, the obnoxious parts 
taken out, and the duty reduced to some particulars 
of small moment! 

A. No, they will never submit to it. 

Q. What do you think is the reason that the peo- 
ple in America increase faster than in England] 

A. Because they marry younger and more gen- 
erally. 

Q. Why so! 

A. Because any young couple that are industrious 
may easily obtain land of their own, on which they 
can raise a family. 

Q. Are not the lower rank of people more at 
their ease in America than in England ! 

A. They may be so if they are sober and dili- 
gent, as they are better paid for their labour. 

Q. What is your opinion of a future tax, imposed 
on the same principle with that of the stamp-act? 
How would the Americans receive it 1 

A Just as they do this. They would not pay it. 

Q. Have you not heard of the resolutions of this 
house and of the House of Lords, asserting the 
right of Parliament relating to America, including 
a power to tax the people there ? 

A. Yes, I have heard of such resolutions. 

Q. What will be the opinion of the Americans on 
those resolutions 1 

A. They will think them unconstitutional and un- 
just. 

Q. Was it an opinion in America before 17G3, 
that the Parliament had no right to lay taxes and 
duties there 1 

A. 1 never heard any objection to the right of lay- 
ing duties to regulate commerce, but a right to lay 



WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 245 

internal taxes was never supposed to be in Parlia- 
ment, as we are not represented there. 

Q. On what do you found your opinion, that the 
people in America made any such distinction? 

A. I know that whenever the subject has occur- 
red in conversation where I have been present, it 
has appeared to be the opinion of every one, that 
we could not be taxed by a Parliament wherein we 
were not represented. But the payment of duties 
laid by an act of Parliament as regulations of com- 
merce was never disputed. 

Q. But can you name any act of Assembly, or 
public act of any of your governrjients, that made 
such distinction ? 

A. I do not know that there was any ; I think 
there was never an occasion to make any such act, 
till now that you have attempted to tax us : that has 
occasioned resolutions of Assembly declaring the 
distinction, in which I think every Assembly on the 
continent, and every member in every Assembly, 
have been unanimous. * * * * 

Q. You say the colonies have always submitted to 
external taxes, and object to the right of Parliament 
only, in laying internal taxes ; now, can you show 
that there is any kind of difference betiveen the two 
taxes to the colony on which they may be laid 1 

A. I think the difference is very great. An ex- 
ternal tax is a duty laid on commodities imported ; 
that duty is added to the first cost and other charges 
on the commodity, and, when it is offered for sale, 
makes a part of the price. If the people do not 
like it at that price, they refuse it ; they are not 
obliged to pay it. But an internal tax is forced from 
the people without their consent, if not laid by their 
own representatives. The stamp-act says we shall 
have no commerce, make no exchange of property 
with each other, neither purchase nor grant, nor 
recover debts ; we shall neither marry nor make 
our wills, unless we pay such and such sums ; and 
21* 



246 WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 

thus it is intended to extort our money from us, or 
ruin us by the consequences of refusing to pay it. 

Q. But supposing the external tax or duty to be 
laid on the necessaries of life imported into your 
colony, will not that be the same thing in its effects 
as an internal tax ? 

A. I do not know a single article imported into 
the northern colonies but what they can either do 
without or make themselves. 

Q. Don't you think cloth from England absolute- 
ly necessary to them ? 

A. No, by no means absolutely necessary ; with 
industry and good management, they may well sup- 
ply themselves with all they want. 

Q. Will it not take a long time to establish that 
manufacture among them ; and must they not, in 
the mean while, suffer greatly \ 

A. I think not. They have made a surprising 
progress already; and I am of opinion that, before 
their old clothes are worn out, they will have new 
ones of their own making. 

Q. Can they possibly find wool enough in North 
America ? 

A. They have taken steps to increase the wool. 
They entered into general combinations to eat no 
more lamb ; and very few lambs were killed last 
year. This course, persisted in, will soon make a 
prodigious difference in the quantity of wool. And 
the establishing of great manufactories, like those 
in the clothing towns here, is not necessary, as it is 
where the business is to be carried on for the pur- 
poses of trade. The people will all spin and work 
for themselves, in their own houses. 

Q. Can there be wool and manufacture enough 
in one or two years \ 

A. In three years I think there may. 

Q. Does not the severity of the winter in the 
northern colonies occasion the wool to be of bad 
quality ] 



WRITINGS GF FRANKLIN. 247 

A. No, the wool is very fine and good. * * * * 

Q. Considering the resolution of Parliament* as 
to the right, do you think, if the stamp-act is repeal- 
ed, that the North Americans will be satisfied? 

A. 1 believe they will. 

Q. Why do you think so ? 

A. I think the resolutions of right will give them 
very little concern if they are never attempted to 
be carried into practice. Tiie colonies will proba- 
bly consider themselves in the same situation in 
that respect with Ireland : they know you claim the 
same right with regard to Ireland, but you never ex- 
ercise it. And they, may believe you never will 
exercise it in the colonies any more than in Ire- 
land, unless on some very extraordinary occasion. 

Q. But who are to be the judges of that extraor- 
dinary occasion 1 Is not the Parliament ? 

A. Though the Parliament may judge of the oc- 
casion, the people will think it can never exercise 
such right till representatives from the colonies are 
admitted into Parliament; and that, whenever the 
occasion arises, representatives will be ordered. * * 

Q. Can anything less than a military force carry 
the stamp-act into execution I 

A. I do not see how a military force can be ap- 
plied to that purpose. 

Q. Why may it not? 

A. Suppose a military force sent into America, 
they will find nobody in arms ; what are they then 
to do ? They cannot force a man to take stamps 
who chooses to do without them. They will not 
find a rebelhon : they may indeed make one. 

Q. If the act is not repealed, what do you think 
will be the consequence ? 

A. A total loss of the respect and affection the 
people of America bear to this country, and of all 
the commerce that depends on that respect and af- 
fection. 

* Afterward expressed in the Declaratory Act. 



248 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIIC. 

Q. How can the commerce be affected ? 

A. You will find that, if the act is not repealed, 
they will take very little of your manufactures in a 
short time. 

Q. Is it in their power to do without them? 

A. I think they may very well do without them. 

Q. Is it their interest not to take them 1 

A. The goods they take from Britain are either 
necessaries, mere conveniences, or superfluities. 
The first, as cloth, &c., with a little industry they 
can make at home ; the second they can do with- 
out till they are able to provide them among them- 
selves ; and the last, which are much the greatest 
part, they will strike off immediately. They are 
mere articles of fashion, purchased and consumed 
because the fashion in a respected country ; but 
will now be detested and rejected. The people 
have already struck off, by general agreement, the 
use of all goods fashionable in mournings, and 
many thousand pounds worth are sent back as un- 
saleable. 

Q. Is it their interest to make cloth at home ? 

A. I think they may at present get it cheaper 
from Britain, I mean of the same fineness and neat- 
ness of workmanship; but when one considers oth- 
er circumstances, the restraints on their trade, and 
the difficulty of making remittances, it is their in- 
terest to make everything. 

Q. Suppose an act of internal regulations con- 
nected with a tax, how would they receive it ? 

A. I think it would be objected to. 

Q. Then no regulation with a tax would be sub- 
mitted to ? 

A. Their opinion is, that when aids to the crown 
are wanted, they are to be asked of the several as- 
semblies, according to the old established usage ; 
who will, as they always have done, grant them 
freely. And that their money ought not to be giv- 
en away without their consent, by persons at a dis- 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 249 

tancc, unacquainted with their circumstances and 
abilities. The granting aids to the crown is the only- 
means they have of recommending themselves to 
their sovereign ; and they think it extremely hard 
and unjust that a body of men, in which they have 
no representatives, should make a merit to itself of 
giving and granting what is not their own, but theirs ; 
and deprive them of a right they esteem of the ut- 
most importance, as it is the security of all their 
other rights. 

Q. But is not the postoffice, which they have 
long received, a tax as well as a regulation T 

A. No ; the money paid for the postage of a let- 
ter is not of the nature of a tax ; it is merely a 
quantum meruit for a service done : no person is 
compellable to pay the money if he does not choose 
to receive the service. A man may still, as before 
the act, send his letter by a servant, a special mes- 
senger, or a friend, if he thinks it cheaper and safer. 

Q. But do they not consider the regulations of 
the postoffice, by the act of last year, as a tax? 

A. By the regulations of last year, the rate of 
postage was generally abated near thirty per cent, 
through all America ; they certainly cannot con- 
sider such abatement as a tax. 

Q. If an excise was laid by Parliament, which 
they might likewise avoid paying by not consuming 
the articles excised, would they then not object to 
it? 

A. They would certainly object to it, as an excise 
is unconnected with any service done, and is mere- 
ly an aid, which they think ought to be asked of 
them and granted by them, if they are to pay it, 
and can be granted for them by no others whatso- 
ever, whom they have not empowered for that pur- 
pose. 

Q. You say they do not object to the right of 
Parliament in laying duties on goods to be paid on 
their importation : now, is there any kind of differ- 



250 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

ence between a duty on the importation of goods 
and an excise on their consumption! 

A. Yes, a very material one : an excise, for the 
reasons I have just mentioned, they think you can 
have no right to lay within their country. But the 
sea is yours : you maintain, by your fleets, the safe- 
ty of navigation in it, and keep it clear of pirates : 
you may have, therefore, a natural and equitable 
right to some loll or duty on merchandises carried 
through that part of your dominions, towards de- 
fraying the expense you are at in ships to maintain 
the safety of that carriage. 

Q. Does this reasoning hold in the case of a duty 
laid on the produce of their lands exported ? And 
would they not then obejct to such a duty! 

A. If it tended to make the produce so much 
dearer abroad as to lessen the demand for it, to 
be sure they would object to such a duty : not to 
your right of laying it, but they would complain of 
it as a burden, and petition you to lighten it. * * * 

Q. Supposing the stamp-act continued and en- 
forced, do you imagine that ill-humour will induce 
the Americans to give as much for worse manufac- 
tures of their own, and use them preferable to bet- 
ter of ours 1 

A. Yes, I think so. People will pay as freely 
to gratify one passion as another, their resentment 
as their pride. 

Q. Would the people at Boston discontinue their 
trade T 

A. The merchants are a very small number com- 
pared with the body of the people, and must dis- 
continue their trade if nobody will buy their goods. 

Q. What are the body of the people in the colo- 
nies^ 

A. They are farmers, husbandmen, or planters. 

Q. Would they suffer the produce of their lands 
to rot ? 

A. No ; but they would not raise so much. They 
would manufacture more and plough less. 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 251 

Q. Would they live without the administration of 
justice in civil matters, and suffer all the incon- 
veniences of such a situation for any considerable 
time, rather than take the stamps, supposing the 
stamps were protected by a sufficient force, where 
every one might have them 1 

A. I think the supposition impracticable, that the 
stamps should be so protected as that every one 
might have them. The act requires sub-distributors 
to be appointed in every county town, district, and 
village, and they would be necessary. But the 
principal distributors, who were to have had a con- 
siderable profit on the whole, have not thought it 
worth while to continue in the office ; and I think 
it impossible to find sub-distributors fit to be trusted, 
who, for the trifling profit that must come to their 
share, would incur the odium and run the hazard 
that would attend it ; and if they could be found, I 
think it impracticable to protect the stamps in so 
many distant and remote places. 

Q. But in places where they could be protected, 
would not the people use them rather than remain 
in such a situation, unable to obtain any right, or 
recover by law any debt 1 

A. It is hard to say what they would do. I can 
only judge what other people will think and how 
they will act by what I feel within myself. I have 
a great many debts due to me in America, and I 
had rather they should remain unrecoverable by 
any law, than submit to the stamp-act. They will 
be debts of honour. It is my opinion, the people 
will either continue in that situation, or find some 
way to extricate themselves, perhaps by generally 
agreeing to proceed in the courts without stamps. 

Q. What do you think a sufficient military force 
to protect the distribution of the stamps in every 
part of America? 

A. A very great force, I can't say what, if the 
disposition of America is for a general resistance. 



252 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

Q. What is the number of men in America able 
to bear arms, or of disciphned militia ? 

A. There are I suppose, at least 

[Question objected to. He withdrew. Called in 
again.] 

Q. Is the American stamp- act an equal tax on the 
country ? 

A. I think not. 

Q. Why so ? 

A. The greatest part of the money must arise 
from lawsuits for the recovery of debts, and be 
paid by the lower sort of people, who were too 
poor easily to pay their debts. It is, therefore, a 
heavy tax on the poor, and a tax upon them for be- 
ing poor. 

Q. But will not this increase of expense be a 
means of lessening the number of lawsuits'? 

A. I think not ; for as the costs all fall upon the 
debtor, and are to be paid by him, they would be 
no discouragement to the creditor to bring his ac- 
tion. 

Q. Would it not have the effect of excessive 
usury 1 

A. Yes ; as an oppression of the debtor. * * * * 

Q. Are there any slilting-mills in America % 

A. I think there are three, but 1 believe only one 
at present employed. I suppose they will all be set 
to work if the interruption of the trade continues. 

Q, Are there ^xiy fulling-mills there ? 

A. A great many. 

Q. Did you never hear that a great quantity of 
stockings were contracted for, for the army, during 
the war, and manufactured in Philadelphia? 

A. I have heard so. 

Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, would 
not the Americans think they could oblige the Par- 
liament to repeal every external tax-law now in 
force ? 

A. It is hard to answer questions of what people 
at such a distance will think. 



WRITIGNS OF FRANKLIN. 253 

Q. But what do you imagine they will think were 
the motives of repealing the act ] 

A. I suppose they will think that it was repealed 
from a conviction of its inexpediency; and they 
will rely upon it, that, while the same inexpediency 
subsists, you will never attempt to make such an- 
other. 

Q. What do you mean by its inexpediency ? 

A. I mean its inexpediency on several accounts : 
the poverty and inabihty of those who were to pay 
the tax, the general discontent it has occasioned, 
and the impracticability of enforcing it. 

Q. If the act should be repealed, and the Legis- 
lature should show its resentment to the opposers 
of the stamp-act, would the colonies acquiesce in 
the authority of the Legislature] What is your 
opinion they would do \ 

A. I don't doubt at all that, if the Legislature re- 
peal the stamp- act, the colonies will acquiesce in 
the authority. 

Q. But if the Legislature should think fit to as- 
certain its right to lay taxes, by any act laying a 
small tax contrary to their opinion, would they sub- 
mit to pay the tax \ 

A, The proceedings of the people in America 
have been considered too much together. The 
proceedings of the assembhes have been very dif- 
ferent from those of the mobs, and should be dis- 
tinguished, as having no connexion with each oth- 
er. The assemblies have only peaceably resolved 
what they take to be their rights : they have taken 
no measures for opposition by force ; they have not 
built a fort, raised a man, or provided a grain of am- 
munition, in order to such opposition. The ring- 
leaders of riots, they think, ought to be punished : 
they would punish them themselves if they could. 
Every sober, sensible man would wish to see riot- 
ers punished, as otherwise peaceable people have 
no security of person or estate ; but as to an inter- 

VoL. L— 22 



254 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

nal tax, how small soever, laid by the Legislature 
here on the people there, while they have no repre- 
sentatives in this Legislature, 1 thnik it will never 
be submitted to : they will oppose it to the last : 
they do not consider it as at all necessary for you 
to raise money on them by your taxes ; because 
they are, and always have been, ready to raise 
money by taxes among themselves, and to grant 
large sums, equal to their abilities, upon requisition 
from the crown. They have not only granted equal 
to their abilities, but, during all the last war, they 
granted far beyond their abilities, and beyond their 
proportion with this country (you yourselves being 
judges) to the amount of many hundred thousand 
pounds ; and this they did freely and readily, only 
on a sort of promise from the secretary of state 
that it should be recommended to Parliament to 
make them compensation. It was accordingly rec- 
ommended to Parhament in the most honourable 
manner for them. America has been greatly mis- 
represented and abused here, in papers, and pam- 
phlets, and speeches, as ungrateful, and unreasona- 
ble, and unjust, in having put this nation to immense 
expense for their defence, and refusing to bear any 
part of that expense. The colonies raised, paid, 
and clothed near twenty-five thousand men during 
the last war; a number equal to those sent from 
Britain, and far beyond their proportion : they went 
deeply into debt in doing this, and all their taxes 
and estates are mortgaged, for many years to come, 
for discharging that debt. Government here was 
at that time very sensible of this. The colonies 
were recommended to Parliament. Every year the 
king sent down to the house a written message to 
this purpose, " That his majesty, being highly sen- 
sible of the zeal and vigour with which his faithful 
subjects in North America had exerted themselves 
in defence of his majesty's just rights and posses- 
Bions, recommended it to the house to take the 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 255 

same into consideration, and enable him to give 
them a proper compensation." You will find those 
messages on your own journals every year of the 
war to the very last; and you did accordingly give 
jC200,000 annually to the crown, to be distributed 
in such compensation to the colonies. This is the 
strongest of all proofs that the colonies, far from 
being unwilling to bear a share of the burden, did 
exceed their proportion ; for if they had done less, 
or had only equalled their proportion, there would 
have been no room or reason for compensation. 
Indeed, the sums reimbursed them were by no 
means adequate to the expense they incurred be- 
yond their proportion : but they never murmured at 
that ; they esteemed their sovereign's approbation 
of their zeal and fidelity, and the approbation of this 
house, far beyond any other kind of compensation ; 
therefore there was no occasion for this act to 
force money from a willing people : they had not 
refused giving money for the purposes of the act, no 
requisition had been made, they were always will- 
ing and ready to do what could reasonably be ex- 
pected from them, and in this light they wish to be 
considered- 

Q. But suppose Great Britain should be engaged 
in a war in Europe, would North A merica contribute 
to the support of it \ 

A. I do think they would, as far as their circum- 
stances would permit. They consider themselves 
as a part of the British empire, and as having one 
common interest with it : they may be looked on 
here as foreigners, but they do not consider them- 
selves as such. They are zealous for the honour 
and prosperity of this nation ; and, while they are 
well used, will always be ready to support it, as far 
as their httle power goes. In 1739 they were call- 
ed upon to assist in tlie expedition against Cartha- 
gena, and they sent three thousand men to join 
your army. It is true Carthagena is in America, 



256 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

but as remote from the northern colonies as if it 
had been in Europe. They make no distinction of 
wars as to their duty of assisting in them. I know 
the last war is commonly spoken of here as entered 
into for the defence, or for the sake of the people in 
America. I think it is quite misunderstood. It be- 
gan about the Umits between Canada and Nova 
Scotia ; about territories to which the crown indeed 
laid claim, but which were not claimed by any Brit- 
ish colony ; none of the lands had been granted to 
any colonist ; we had, therefore, no particular con- 
cern or interest in that dispute. As to the Ohio, 
the contest there began about your right of trading 
in the Indian country ; a right you had by the treaty 
of Utrecht, which the French infringed ; they seized 
the traders and their goods, which were your man- 
ufactures ; they took a fort which a company of 
3'our merchants, and their factors and correspond- 
ents, had erected there, to secure that trade. Brad- 
dock was sent with an army to retake that fort 
(which was looked on here as another encroach- 
ment on the king's territory) and to protect your 
trade. It was not till after his defeat that the colo- 
nies were attacked.* They were before in perfect 
peace with both French and Indians; the troops 
were not, therefore, sent for their defence. The 
trade with the Indians, though carried on in Amer- 
ica, is not an American interest. The people of 
America are chiefly farmers and planters ; scarce 
anything that they raise or produce is an article of 
commerce with the Indians. The Indian trade is a 
British interest ; it is carried on with British manu- 
factures, for the profit of British merchants and 

* When this army was in the utmost distress from the want 
of wagons, <&c., our author and his son voluntarily traversed 
the country, in order to collect a sufficient quantity ; and ef- 
fected their purpose, by pledging himself to the amount of many 
thousand pounds, for payment. It was but just before Dr. 
Franklin's last return from England to America that the ac- 
counts in this transaction were passed at the British treasury. 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 257 

manufacturers ; therefore the war, as it commenced 
for the defence of territories of the crown (the 
property of no American) and for the defence of a 
trade purely British, was really a British war, and 
yet the people of America made no scruple of con- 
tributing their utmost towards carrying it on and 
bringing it to a happy conclusion. 

Q. Do you think, then, that the taking possession 
of the king's territorial rights, and strengthening the 
frontiers, is not an American interest ? 

A. Not particularly, but conjointly a British and 
an American interest. 

Q. You will not deny that the preceding war, the 
war with Spain, was entered into for the sake of 
America; was it not occasioned by captures made in 
the American seas ? 

A. Yes ; captures of ships carrying on the British 
trade there with British manufactures. 

Q. Was not the late ivar with the Indians, since 
the peace with France, a war for America only ? 

A. Yes ; it was more particularly for America 
than the former; but it was rather a consequence 
or remains of the former war, the Indians not hav- 
ing been thoroughly pacified ; and the Americans 
bore by much the greatest share of the expense. 
It was put an end to by the army under General 
Bouquet ; there were not above three hundred regu- 
lars in that army, and above one thousand Pennsyl- 
vanians. 

Q. Is it not necessary to send troops to America, 
to defend the Americans against the Indians ? 

A. No, by no means ; it never was necessary. 
They defended themselves when they were but a 
handful, and the Indians much more numerous. 
They continually gained ground, and have driven 
the Indians over the mountains, without any troops 
sent to their assistance from this country. And 
can it be thought necessary now to send troops for 
their defence from those diminished Indian tribes, 
23* 



258 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

when the colonies are become so populous and so 
strong ! There is not the least occasion for it ; they 
are very able to defend themselves. * * * 

Q. Do you think the assemblies have a right to 
levy money on the subject there, to grant to the 
crown ? 

A . I certainly think so ; they have alv^ays done it. 

Q. Are they acquainted with the declaration of 
rights 1 And do they know that, by that statute, 
money is not to be raised on the subject but by con- 
sent of Parhament ] 

A. They are very vv^ell acquainted with it. 

Q. How, then, can they think they have a right to 
levy money for the crown, or for any other than 
local purposes 1 

A. They understand that clause to relate to sub- 
jects only within the realm ; that no money can be 
levied on them for the crown but by consent of 
Parliament. The colonies are not supposed to be 
within the realm; they have assemblies of their 
own, which are their parliaments, and they are, in 
that respect, in the same situation with Ireland. 
When money is to be raised for the crown upon 
the subject in Ireland or in the colonies, the con- 
sent is given in the Parliament of Ireland or in the 
assembhes of the colonies. They think the Par- 
liament of Great Britain cannot properly give that 
consent till it has representatives from America; 
for the petition of right expressly says, it is to be by 
common consent in Parliament ; and the people of 
America have no representatives in Parliament to 
make a part of that common consent. 

Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, and an 
act should pass ordering the assemblies of the 
<;olonies to indemnify the sufferers by the riots, 
would they do it 1 
A. That is a question I cannot answer. 
Q. Suppose the king should require the colonies 
to grant a revenue, and the Parliament should be 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 259 

against their doing it, do they think they can grant 
a revenue to the king without the consent of the 
Parliament of Great Britain? 

A. That is a deep question. As to my own opin- 
ion, I should think myself at liberty to do it, and 
should do it if I hked the occasion. 

Q. When money has been raised in the colonies 
upon requisition, has it not been granted to the 
king? 

A. Yes, always ; but the requisitions have gen- 
erally been for some service expressed, as to raise, 
'clothe, and pay troops, and not for money only. 

Q. If the act should pass requiring the Ameri- 
can assemblies to make compensation to the suifer- 
ers, and they should disobey it, and then the Parha- 
ment should, by another act, lay an internal tax, 
would they then obey it \ 

A. The people will pay no internal tax ; and I 
think an act to oblige the assemblies to make com- 
pensation is unnecessary ; for I am of opinion that, 
as soon as the present heats are abated, they will 
take the matter into consideration, and, if it is right 
to be done, they will do it themselves. 

Q. Do not letters often come into the postoffices 
in America directed to some inland town where no 
post goes ? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Can any private person take up those letters, 
and carry them as directed ? 

A. Yes ; any friend of the person may do it, pay- 
ing the postage that has accrued. 

Q. But must not he pay an additional postage for 
the distance to such inland town ! 

A. No. 

Q. Can the postmaster answer delivering the let- 
ter, without bemg paid such additional postage ] 

A. Certainly he can demand nothing where he 
does no service. 

Q. Suppose a person, being far from home, finds 



260 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. ^ 

a letter in a postoffice directed to him, and he lives 
in a place to which the post generally goes, and 
the letter is directed to that place, will the post- 
master deliver him the letter without his paying the 
postage receivable at the place to which the letter 
is directed? 

A. Yes ; the office cannot demand postage for a 
letter that it does not carry, or farther than it does 
carry it. 

Q. Are not ferrymen in America obliged, by 
act of Parliament, to carry over the posts without 
pay? 

A. Yes. 

Q. Is not this a tax on the ferrymen 1 

A. They do not consider it as such, as they have 
an advantage from persons travelling with the post. 

Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, and the 
crown should make a requisition to the colonies for 
a sum of money, would they grant it ! 

A. I believe they would. 

Q. Why do you think so ? 

A. I carl speak for the colony I live in : I have it 
in instruction from the Assembly to assure the min- 
istry, that as they always had done, so they should 
always think it their duty to grant such aids to the 
crown as were suitable to their circumstances and 
abiUties, whenever called upon for that purpose, in 
the usual constitutional manner ; and I had the 
honour of communicating this instruction to that 
honourable gentleman then minister. 

Q. Would they do this for a British concern, as 
suppose a war in some part of Europe that did not 
affect them? 

A. Yes, for anything that concerned tlie general 
interest. They consider themselves as part of the 
whole. 

Q. What is the usual constitutional manner of 
calling on the colonies for aids 1 

A. A letter from the secretary of state. 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 261 

Q. Is this all you mean ; a letter from the sec- 
retary of state ] 

A. I mean the usual way of requisition, in a cir- 
cular letter from the secretary of state, by his ma- 
jesty's command, reciting the occasion, and rec- 
ommending it to the colonies to grant such aid as 
became their loyalty, and were suitable to their 
abilities. 

Q. Did the secretary of state ever write for mon- 
ey for the crown \ 

A. The requisitions have been to raise, clothe, 
and pay men, which cannot be done without money. 

Q. Would they grant money alone, if called on ? 

A. In my opinion they would, money as well as 
men, when they have money, or can make it. 

Q. If the Parliament should repeal the stamp-act, 
will the Assembly of Pennsylvania rescind their 
resolutions \ 

A. I think not, 

Q. Before there was any thought of the stamp- 
act, did they wish for a representation in Parlia- 
ment T 

A. No. 

Q. Don't you know that there is, in the Pennsyl- 
vania charter, an express reservation of the right 
of Parliament to lay taxes there ? 

A. I know there is a clause in the charter by 
which the king grants that he will levy no taxes on 
the inhabitants, unless it be with the consent of the 
Assembly or by act of Parliament. 

Q. How, then, could the Assembly of Pennsylva- 
nia assert, that laying a tax on them by the stamp- 
act was an infringement of their rights'? 

A- They understand it thus : by the same char- 
ter, and otherwise, they are entitled to all the privi- 
leges and liberties of Englishmen ; they find in the 
great charters, and the petition and declaration of 
rights, that one of the privileges of Enghsh subjects 
is, that they are not to be taxed but by their com' 



262 WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 

mon consent; they have therefore relied upon it, 
from the first settlement of the province, that the 
Parliament never would nor could, by colour of 
that clause in the charter, assume a right of taxing 
them, till it had qualified itself to exercise such 
right, by admitting representatives from the peo- 
ple to be taxed, who ought to make a part of that 
common consent. 

Q. Are there any words in the charter that jus- 
tify that construction ? 

A. The common rights of Englishmen, as de- 
clared by Magna Charta and the Petition of Right, 
all justify it. * * * * 

Q. Are all parts of the colonies equally able to 
pay taxes ? 

A. No, certainly ; the frontier parts, which have 
been ravaged by the enemy, are greatly disabled 
by that means ; and, therefore, in such cases, are 
usually favoured in our tax-laws. 

Q. Can we, at this distance, be competent judges 
of what favours are necessary! 

A. The Parliament have supposed it, by claiming 
a right to make tax-laws for America; I think it 
impossible. 

Q. Would the repeal of the stamp-act be any 
discouragement of your manufactures'? Will the 
people that have begun to manufacture decline it ? 

A. Yes, I think they will; especially if, at the 
same time, the trade is open again, so that remit- 
tances can be easily made. I have known several 
instances that make it probable. In the war before 
last, tobacco bemg low, and making little remit- 
tance, the people of Virginia went generally into 
family manufactures. Afterward, when tobacco 
bore a better price, they returned to the use of 
British manufactures. So fuUing-mills were very 
much disused in the last war in Pennsylvania, be- 
cause bills were then plenty, and remittances could 
easily be made to Britain for English cloth and other 
goods. 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 263 

Q. If the stamp-act should be repealed, would it 
induce the assemblies of America to acknowleige 
the rights of Parliament to tax them, and would 
they erase their resolutions 1 

A. No, never. 

Q. Are there no means of obliging them to erase 
those resolutions 1 

A. None that I know of; they will never do it, 
unless compelled by force of arms. 

Q, Is there a power on earth that can force them 
to erase them ! 

A. No power, how great soever, can force men 
to change their opinions. 

Q. Do they consider the postoffice as a tax or as 
a regulation ] 

A. Not as a tax, but as a regulation and conve- 
nience ; every assembly encouraged it, and support- 
ed it in its infancy by grants of money, which they 
would not otherwise have done ; and the people 
have always paid the postage. 

Q. When did you receive the instructions you 
mentioned 1 

A. 1 brought them with me when I came to Eng- 
land, about fifteen months since. 

Q. When did you communicate that instruction 
to the minister 1 

A. Soon after my arrival ; while the stamping of 
America was under consideration, and before the 
bill was brought in. 

Q. Would It be most for the interest of Great 
Britain to employ the hands of Virginia in tobacco 
or in manufactures ? 

A. In tobacco, to be sure. 

Q. What used to be the pride of the AmeVicans ? 

A. To indulge in the fashions and manufactures 
of Great Britain. 

Q. What is now their pride 1 

A. To wear their old clothes over again, till they 
can make new ones. 



264 WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 

Feb. 13. Benjamin Franklin, Esq., having passed 
through his examination, was exempted from farther 
attendance. He withdrew. 

Feb. 24. The resolutions of the committee were 
reported by the chairman, Mr. Fuller, their seventh 
and last resolution setting forth, " that it was their 
opinion that the House be moved, that leave be 
given to bring in a bill to repeal the stamp-act." 
A proposal for recommitting this resolution was 
negatived by 240 votes to 133. — Journals of the 
House of Commons. 



Narrative of the Massacre of Friendly Indians in Lan- 
caster County, Pennsylvania, 1764. 

These Indians were the remains of a tribe of the 
Six Nations, settled at Conestogo, and thence called 
Conestogo Indians. On the first arrival of the Eng- 
lish in Pennsylvania, messengers from this tribe 
came to welcome them, with presents of venison, 
corn, and skins ; and the whole tribe entered into a 
treaty of friendship with the first proprietor, Wil- 
liam Penn, which was to last " as long as the sun, 
should shine, or the waters run in the rivers." 

This treaty has been since frequently renewed, 
and the chain brightened, as they express it, from 
time to time. It has never been violated, on their 
part or ours, till now. As their lands by degrees 
were mostly purchased, and the settlements of the 
white people began to surround them, the proprie- 
tor assigned them lands on the manor of Conestogo, 
which they might not part with ; there they have 
lived many years in friendship with their, white 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 265 

neighbours, who loved them for their peaceable, in- 
offensive behaviour. 

It has always been observed, that Indians settled 
in the neighbourhood of white people do not in- 
crease, but diminish continually. This tribe accord- 
ingly went on diminishing, till there remained in 
their town on the manor but twenty persons, viz., 
seven men, five women, and eight children, boys 
and girls. 

Of these, Shehaes vi^as a very old man, having as- 
sisted at the second treaty held with them, by Mr. 
Penn, in 1701, and ever since continued a faithful 
and affectionate friend to the English. He is said 
to have been an exceeding good man, considering 
his education, being naturally of a most kind, be- 
nevolent temper. 

Peggy was Shehaes's daughter ; she worked for 
her aged father, continuing to live with him, though 
married, and attended him with fiUal duty and ten- 
derness. 

John was another good old man ; his son Harry 
helped to support him. 

George and Will Soc were two brothers, both 
young men. 

John Smith, a valuable young man of the Cayuga 
nation, who became acquainted with Peggy, She- 
haes's daughter, some few years since, married and 
settled in that family. They had one child, about 
three years old. 

Betty, a harmless old woman ; and her son Peter, 
a likely young lad. 

Sally, whose Indian name was Wyanjoy, a wom- 
an much esteemed by all that knew her, for her pru- 
dent and good behaviour in some very trying situa- 
tions of hfe. She was a truly good and an amiable 
woman, had no children of her own ; but, a distant 
relation dying, she had taken a child of that rela- 
tion's to bring up as her own, and performed to- 
wards it all the duties of an affectionate parent. 

Vol. I.— 23 



266 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

The reader will observe that many of their names 
are English. It is common with the Indians, that 
have an affection for the English, to give themselves 
and their children the names of such English per- 
sons as they particularly esteem. 

This little society continued the custom they had 
begmi, when more numerous, of addressing every 
new governor and every descendant of the first pro- 
prietor, welcoming him to the province, assuring 
him of their fidelity, and praying a continuance of 
that favour and protection they had hitherto ex- 
perienced. They had accordingly sent up an ad- 
dress of this kind to our present governor on his 
arrival ; but the same was scarce delivered when 
the unfortunate catastrophe happened which we are 
about to relate. 

On Wednesday, the 14th of December, 1763, fifty- 
seven men from some of our frontier townships, 
who had projected the destruction of this little com- 
monwealth, came, all well mounted, and armed with 
firelocks, hangers, and hatchets, having travelled 
through the country in the night, to Conestogo 
manor. There they surrounded the small village 
of Indian huts, and just at break of day broke 
into them all at once. Only three men, two wom- 
en, and a young boy were found at home, the rest 
being out among the neighbouring white people, 
some to sell the baskets, brooms, and bowls they 
manufactured, and others on other occasions. 
These poor defenceless creatures were immediate- 
ly fired upon, stabbed, and hatcheted to death ! The 
good Shehaes, among the rest, cut to pieces in his 
bed. All of them were scalped and otherwise hor- 
ribly mangled. Then their huts were set on fire, 
and most of them burned down. When the troop, 
pleased with their own conduct and bravery, but 
enraged that any of the poor Indians had escaped 
the massacre, rode off", and in small parties, by dif- 
ferent roads, went home. 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 267 

The universal concern of the neighbouring white 
people on hearing of this event, and the lamenta- 
tions of the younger Indians when they returned 
and saw the desolation, and the butchered, half- 
burned bodies of their murdered parents and other 
relations, cannot well be expressed. 

The magistrates of Lancaster sent out to collect 
the remaining Indians, brought them into the town 
for their better security against any farther attempt, 
and, it is said, condole'd with them on the misfor- 
tune that had happened, took them by the hand, 
comforted, and promised them protection. They 
■were all put into the workhouse, a strong building, 
as the place of greatest safety. 

When the shocking news arrived in town, a proc- 
lamation was issued by the governor, detailing the 
particulars of this horrible outrage, and calhng ear- 
nestly upon the people of the province to use all 
possible means to apprehend and bring to condign 
punishment its satage perpetrators. 

Notwithstanding this proclamation, those cruel 
men again assembled themselves, and, hearing that 
the remaining fourteen Indians were in the work- 
house at Lancaster, they suddenly appeared in that 
town on the 27th of December. Fifty of them, 
armed as before, dismounting, went directly to the 
workhouse, and by violence broke open the door, 
and entered with the utmost fury in their counte- 
nances. When the poor wretches saw they had no 
protection nigh, nor could possibly escape, and be- 
ing without the least weapon for defence, they di- 
vided into their httle families, the children clinging 
to the parents ; they fell on their knees, protested 
their innocence, declared their love to the Enghsh, 
and that, in their whole Uves, they had never done 
them injury; and in this posture they all received 
the hatchet ! Men, women, and little children were 
every one inhumanly murdered in cold blood ! 
The barbarous men who committed the atrocious 



268 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

fact, in defiance of government, of all laws human 
and divine, and to the eternal disgrace of their coun- 
try and colour, then mounted their horses, huzzaed 
in triumph, as if they had gained a victory, and rode 
off unmolested ! 

The bodies of the murdered were then brought 
out and exposed in the street, till a hole could be 
made in the earth to receive and cover them. 

But the wickedness cannot be covered ; the guilt 
will lie on the whole land, till justice is done on the 
murderers. The blood of the innocent will cry to 
Heaven for vengeance. 

It is said that Shehaes, being before told that it 
was to be feared some English might come from the 
frontier into the country and murder him and his 
people, he rephed, " It is impossible ; there are In- 
dians, indeed, in the woods, who would kill me and 
mine, if they could get at us, for my friendship to 
the English ; but the English will wrap me in their 
matchcoat and secure me from all danger." How 
unfortunately was he mistaken ! 

Another proclamation has been issued, offering a 
great reward for apprehending the murderers. 

But these proclamations have as yet produced no 
discovery; the murderers having given out such 
threatenings against those that disapprove their pro- 
ceedings, that the whole country seems to be in 
terror, and no one dares speak what he knows ; 
even the letters from thence are unsigned, in which 
any dislike is expressed of the rioters. 

There are some (I am ashamed to hear it) who 
would extenuate the enormous wickedness of these 
actions, by saying, " The inhabitants of the fron- 
tiers are exasperated with the murder of their rela- 
tions by the enemy Indians in the present war." It 
is possible; but, though this might justify their 
going out into the woods to seek for those enemies, 
and avenge upon them those murders, it can never 



WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 269 

justify their turning into the heart of the country to 
murder their friends. 

If an Indian injures me, does it follow that I may 
revenge that injury on all Indians I It is well known 
that Indians are of different tribes, nations, and lan- 
guages, as well as the white people. In Europe, if 
the French, who are white people, should injure the 
Dutch, are they to revenge it on the English, be- 
cause they too are white people 1 The only crime 
of these poor wretches seems to have been, that 
they had a reddish-brown skin and black hair; 
and some people of that sort, it seems, had murder- 
ed some of our relations. If it be right to kill men 
for such a reason, then, should any man with a 
freckled face and red hair kill a wife or child of 
mine, it would be right for me to revenge it by kill- 
ing all the freckled, red-haired men, women, and 
children I could afterward anywhere meet with. 

But it seems these people think they have a bet- 
ter justification; nothing less than the Word of God. 
With the Scriptures in their hands and mouths, they 
can set. at naught that express command, Thou shall 
do no murder; and justify their wickedness by the 
command given Joshua to destroy the heathen. Hor- 
rid perversion of Scripture and of religion ! To 
father the worst of crimes on the God of peace and 
love! Even the Jews, to whom that particular 
commission was directed, spared the Gibeonites on 
account of their faith once given. The faith of this 
government has been frequently given to those In- 
dians, but that did not avail them with people who 
despise government. 

We pretend to be Christians, and, from the su- 
perior light we enjoy, ought to exceed heathens, 
Turks, Saracens, Moors, negroes, and Indians in 
the knowledge and practice of what is right. I will 
endeavour to show, by a few examples from books 
and history, the sense those people have had of 
such actions. 

S3* 



270 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

Homer wrote his poem, called the Odyssey, some 
hundred years before the birth of Christ. He fre- 
quently speaks of what he calls not only the duties, 
but the sacred rites of hospitality, exercised towards 
strangers while in our house or territory, as in- 
cluding, besides all the common circumstances of 
entertainment, full safety and protection of person 
from all danger of life, from all injuries, and even 
insults. The rites of hospitality were called sacred, 
because the stranger, the poor, and the weak, when 
they applied for protection and relief, were, from 
the religion of those times, supposed to be sent by 
the Deity to try the goodness of men, and that he 
would avenge the injuries they might receive, where 
they ought to have been protected. These senti- 
ments, therefore, influenced the manners of all 
ranks of people, even the meanest; for we find, 
that when Ulysses came as a poor stranger to the 
hut of Eumaeus the swineherd, and his great dogs 
ran out to tear the ragged man, Eumaeus drove them 
away with stones ; and 

♦"Unhappy stranger!' (thus the faithful swain 
Began, with accent gracious and humane), 
* What sorrow had been mine, if at my gate, 
Thy reverend age had met a shameless fate ! 
But enter this my homely roof, and see 
Our woods not void of hospitality.' 
He said, and secondmg the kind request, 
With friendly step precedes the unknown guest ; 
A shaggy goat's soft hide beneath him spread, 
And with fresh rushes heaped an ample bed. 
Joy touched the hero's tender soul, to find 
So just reception from a heart so kind; 
And ' Oh, ye gods, with all your blessmgs grace' 
(He thus broke forth) ' this friend of human race !' 

The swain rephed : * It never was our guise 
To slight the poor, or aught humane despise. 
For Jove unfolds the hospitable door, 
'Tis Jove that sends the strangers and the poor.* " 

These heathen people thought that, after a breach 
of the rites of hospitality, a curse from Heaven 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 271 

would attend them in everything they did, and 
even their honest industry in their calhngs would 
fail of success. Thus when Ulysses tells Eumaeus, 
who doubted the truth of what he related, " If I de- 
ceive you in this, I should deserve death, and I con- 
sent that you should put me to death ;" Eumaeus 
rejects the proposal, as what would be attended 
with both infamy and misfortune, saying ironically, 

*' Doubtless, oh guest, great laud and praise were mine, 
If, after social rites and gifts bestowed, 
I stained my hospitable hearth with blood. 
How would the gods my righteous toils succeed, 
And bless the hand that made a stranger bleed ? 
No more." 

Even an open enemy, in the heat of battle, throw- 
ing down his arms, submitting to the foe, and ask- 
ing hfe and protection, was supposed to acquire an 
immediate right to that protection. Thus one de- 
scribes his being saved when his party was defeat- 
ed: 

"We turned to flight ; the gathering vengeance spread 
On all parts round, and heaps on heaps lie dead. 
The radiant helmet from my brows unlaced, 
And lo, on earth my shield and javelin cast, 
I meet the monarch with a suppliant's face, 
Approach his chariot, and his knees embrace. 
He heard, he saved, he placed me at his side ; 
My state he pitied, and my tears he dried ; 
Restrained the rage the vengeful foe expressed, 
And turned the deadly weapons from my breast. 
Pious to guard the hospitable rite, 
And fearing Jove, whom mercy's works delight." 

The suiters of Penelope are, by the same ancient 
poet, described as a set of lawless men, who were 
regardless of the sacred rites of hospitahty. And, 
therefore, when the queen was informed they were 
slain, and that by Ulysses, she, not believing that 
Ulysses was returned, says, 

" Ah no ! some god the suiters' deaths decreed, 
Some god descends, and by his hand they bleed j 



272 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

Blind, to contemn the stranger's righteous cause, 
And violate all hospitable laws ! 

The powers they defied; 

But Heaven is just, and by a god they died," 

Thus much for the sentiments of the ancient hea- 
thens. As for the Turks, it is recorded in the Life of 
Mohammed, the founder of their rehgion, that Kha- 
led, one of his captains, having divided a number of 
prisoners between himself and those that were with 
him, he commanded the hands of his own prisoners 
to be tied behind them, and then, in a most cruel 
and brutal manner, put them to the sword ; but he 
could not prevail on his men to massacre their cap- 
tives, because, in fight, they had laid down their 
arms, submitted, and demanded protection, Mo- 
hammed, when the account was brought to him, ap- 
plauded the men for their humanity; but said to 
Khaled, with great indignation, " Oh Khaled, thou 
butcher, cease to molest me with thy wickedness. 
If thou possessedst a heap of gold as large as Mount 
Obod, and shouldst expend it all in God's cause, thy 
merit would not efface the guilt incurred by the 
murder of the meanest of these poor captives." 

Among the Arabs or Saracens, though it was law- 
ful to put to death a prisoner taken in battle, if he 
had made himself obnoxious by his former wicked- 
ness, yet this could not be done after he had once 
eaten bread or drunk water while in their hands. 
Hence we read in the history of the wars of the 
Holy Land, that when the Franks had suffered a 
great defeat from Saladin, and among the prisoners 
were the King of Jerusalem, and Arnold, a famous 
Christian captain, who had been very cruel to the 
Saracens ; these two being brought before the sul- 
tan, he placed the king on his right hand and Arnold 
on his left, and then presented the king with a cup 
of water, who immediately drank to Arnold; but 
when Arnold was about to receive the cup, the sul- 
tan interrupted, saying, " I will not suffer this wick- 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 273 

ed man to drink, as that, according to the laudable 
and generous custom of the Arabs, would secure 
him his life." 

That the same laudable and generous custom still 
prevails among the Mohammedans, appears from the 
account, but last year published, of his travels by 
Mr. Bell, of Antermony, who accompanied the Czar, 
Peter the Great, in his journey to Derbent, through 
Daggestan. "The religion of the Daggestans," 
says he, "is generally Mohammedan, some follow- 
ing the sect of Osman, others that of Haly. Their 
language, for the most part, is Turkish, or, rather, a 
dialect of the Arabic, though many of them speak 
also the Persian language. One article I cannot 
omit concerning their laws of hospitality, which is, 
if their greatest enemy comes under their roof for 
protection, the landlord, of what condition soever, is 
obliged to keep him safe from all manner of harm 
or violence during his abode with him, and even to 
conduct him safely through his territories to a place 
of security." 

From the Saracens this same custom obtained 
among the Moors of Africa ; was by them brought 
into Spain, and there long sacredly observed. The 
Spanish historians record with applause one fa- 
mous instance of it. While the Moors governed 
there, and the Spanish mixed with them, a Spanish 
cavalier, in a sudden quarrel, slew a young Moorish 
gentleman, and fled. His pursuers soon lost sight 
of him, for he had, unperceived, thrown himself 
over a garden wall. The owner, a Moor, happen-' 
ing to be in his garden, was addressed by the Span- 
iard on his knees, who acquainted him with his 
case, and implored concealment. " Eat this," said 
the Moor, giving him half a peach ; " you now 
know that you may confide in my protection." He 
then locked him up in his garden apartment, telling 
him that, as soon as it was night, he would provide 
for his escape to a place of more safety. The Moor 



274 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

then went into his house, where he had scarce seat- 
ed himself when a great crowd, with loud lamenta- 
tions, came to the gate bringing the corpse of his 
son, that had just been killed by a Spaniard. When 
the first shock of surprise was a little over, he 
learned, from the description given, that the fatal 
deed was done by the person then in his power. 
He mentioned this to no one ; but, as soon as it was 
dark, retired to his garden apartment, as if to grieve 
alone, giving orders that none should follow him. 
There accosting the Spaniard, he said, " Christian, 
the person you have killed is my son ; his body is 
in my house. You ought to suffer; but you have 
eaten with me, and I have given you my faith, which 
must not be broken. Follow me." He then led 
the astonished Spaniard to his stables, mounted him 
on one of his fleetest horses, and said, " Fly far 
while the night can cover you. You will be safe 
in the morning. You are, indeed, guilty of my son's 
blood; but God is just and good, and I thank him 
that I am innocent of yours, and that my faith given 
is preserved." 

The Spaniards caught from the Moors this punto 
of honour, the effects of which remain, in a degree, 
to this day. So that, when there is fear of a war 
about to break out between England and Spain, an 
English merchant there, who apprehends the con- 
fiscation of his goods as the goods of an enemy, 
thinks them safe if he can get a Spaniard to take 
charge of them ; for the Spaniard secures them as 
his own, and faithfully redelivers them, or pays 
the value whenever the Enghshman can safely de- 
mand it. 

Justice to that nation, though lately cur enemies, 
and hardly yet our cordial friends, obliges me, on 
this occasion, not to omit mentioning an instance 
of Spanish honour, which cannot but be still fresh 
in the memory of many yet living. In 1746, when 
we were in hot war with Spain, the Ehzabeth, of 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 275 

London, Captain William Edwards, coming through 
the Gulf from Jamaica, richly laden, met with a 
most violent storm, in which the ship sprung aleak, 
that obliged them, for the saving of their lives, to 
run her into the Havana. The captain went on 
shore, directly waited on the governor, told the oc- 
casion of his putting in, and that he surrendered his 
ship as a prize, and himself and his men as prison- 
ers of war, only requesting good quarter. " No, 
sir," replied the Spanish governor ; " if we had 
taken you in fair war at sea, or approaching our 
coast with hostile intentions, your ship would then 
have been a prize, and your people prisoners. But 
when, distressed by a tempest, you come into our 
ports for the safety of your lives, we, though ene- 
mies, being men, are bound as such, by the laws 
of humanity, to afford relief to distressed men who 
ask it of us. We cannot, even against our enemies, 
take advantage of an act of God. You have leave, 
therefore, to unload the ship, if that be necessary 
to stop the leak ; you may refit here, and traffic so 
far as shall be necessary to pay the charges ; you 
may then depart, and I will give you a pass, to be 
m force till you are beyond Bermuda. If after that 
you are taken, you will then be a prize ; but now 
you are only a stranger, and have a stranger's right 
to safety and protection." The ship accordingly 
departed and arrived safe in London. 

Will it be permitted me to adduce, on this occa- 
sion, an instance of the like honour in a poor, unen- 
lightened African negro. I find it in Captain Sea- 
grave's account of his Voyage to Guinea. He re- 
lates, that a New-England sloop, trading there in 
1752, left their second mate, WlUiam Murray, sick 
on shore, and sailed without him. Murray was at 
the house of a black, named Cudjoe, with whom 
he had contracted an acquaintance during their 
trade. He recovered, and the sloop being gone, he 
continued with his black friend till some other op- 



276 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

* 

portunity should offer of his getting home. In the 
mean while, a Dutch ship came into the road, and 
some of the blacks, going on board her, were treach- 
erously seized and carried off as slaves. Their re- 
lations and friends, transported with sudden rage, 
ran to the house of Cudjoe to take revenge by kill- 
ing Murray. Cudjoe stopped them at the door, and 
demanded what they wanted. " The white men," 
said they, " have carried away our brothers and 
sons, and we will kill all white men ; give us the 
white man you keep in your house, for we will kill 
him." " Nay," said Cudjoe, " the white men that 
carried away your brothers are bad men ; kill them 
when you can catch them ; but this white man is a 
good man, and you must not kill him." " But he is 
a white man," they cried ; " the white men are all 
bad, and we will kill them all." " Nay," said he, 
" you must not kill a man that has done no harm, 
only for being white. This man is my friend, my 
house is his fort, and I am his soldier. I must fight 
for him. You must kill me before you can kill 
him. What good man will ever come again under 
my roof if I let my floor be stained with a good 
man's blood !" The negroes, seeing his resolution, 
and being convinced, by his discourse, that they 
were wrong, went away ashamed. In a few days> 
Murray ventured abroad again with Cudjoe, when 
several of them took him by the hand, and told him' 
they were .glad they had not killed him ; for, as he 
was a good (meaning an innocent) man, their God 
would have been angry, and would have spoiled 
their fishing. " I relate this," says Captain Sea- 
grave, " to show that some among these dark peo- 
ple have a strong sense of justice and honour, and 
that even the most brutal among them are capable 
of feeling the force of reason, and of being influen- 
ced by a fear of God (if the knowledge of the true 
God could be introduced among them), since even 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 277 

the fear of a false God, when their rage subsided, 
was not without its good effect." 

Now 1 am about to mention something of Indians, 
I beg that I may not be understood as framing apolo- 
gies for all Indians. I am far from desiring to lessen 
the laudable spirit of resentment in my countrymen 
against those now at war with us, so far as it is jus- 
tified by their perfidy and inhumanity, I would only 
observe, that the Six Nations, as a body, have kept 
faith with the English ever since we knew them, now 
near a hundred years ; and that the governing part 
of those people have had notions of honour, what- 
ever may be the case of the rum-debauched, trader- 
corrupted vagabonds and thieves on the Susquehan- 
na and Ohio at present in arms against us. As a 
proof of that honour, I shall only mention one well- 
known recent fact. When six Catawba deputies, 
under the care of Colonel Bull, of Charlestown, 
went, by permission, into the Mohawk's country to 
sue for, and treat of peace for their nation, they 
soon found the Six Nations highly exasperated, and 
the peace at that time impracticable. They were 
therefore in fear of their own persons, and appre- 
hended that they should be killed in their way back 
to New-York ; which, being made known to the 
Mohawk chiefs by Colonel Bull, one of them, by 
order of the council, made this speech to the Ca- 
tawbas : 

" Strangers and Enemies, 

" While you are in this country, blow away all 
fear out of your breasts ; change the black streak 
of paint on your cheeks for a red one, and let your 
faces shine with bear's grease. You are safer here 
than if you were at home. The Six Nations will 
not defile their own land with the blood of men tha,t 
come unarmed to ask for peace. We shall send a 
guard with you, to see you safe out of our territo- 
ries. So far you shall have peace, but no farther. 
Get home to your own country, and there take care 

Vol. I.— 24 



278 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

of yourselves, for there we intend to come and kill 
you." 

The Catawbas came away unhurt accordingly. 

It is also well known, that just before the late 
war broke out, when our traders first went among 
the Piankeshaw Indians, a tribe of the Twigtwees, 
they found the principle of giving protection to 
strangers in full force ; for, the French coming with 
their Indians to the Piankeshaw town, and demand- 
ing that those traders and their goods should be de- 
livered up, the Piankeshaws replied, the English 
were come there upon their invitation, and they 
could not do so base a thing. But the French in- 
sisting on it, the Piankeshaws took arms in defence 
of their guests, and a number of them, with their 
old chief, lost their lives in the cause ; the French 
at last prevailing by superior force only. 

I will not dissemble that numberless stories have 
been raised and spread abroad, against not only the 
poor wretches that are murdered, but also against 
the hundred and forty Christianized Indians still 
threatened to be murdered ; all which stories are 
well known, by those who know the Indians best, 
to be pure inventions, contrived by bad people, 
either to excite each other to join in the murder, 
or, since it was committed, to justify it, and believed 
only by the weak and credulous. I call thus pub- 
licly on the makers and venders of these accusa- 
tions to produce their evidence. Let them satisfy 
the public that even Will Soc, the most obnoxious 
of all that tribe, was really guilty of those offences 
against us which they lay to his charge. But, if he 
was, ought he not to have been fairly tried? He 
lived under our laws, and was subject to them ; he 
was in our hands, and might easily have been pros- 
ecuted ; was it English justice to condemn and exe- 
cute him unheard T Conscious of his own inno- 
cence, he did not endeavour to hide himself when 
the door of the workhouse, his sanctuary, was 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 279 

breaking open. " I will meet them," says he, " for 
they are my brothers." These brothers of his shot 
him down at the door, while the word " brothers" 
was between his teeth. 

But if Will Soc was a bad man, what had poor 
old Shehaes done? What could he or the other 
poor old men and women do ] What had little 
boys and girls done 1 What could children of a 
year old, babes at the breast, what could they do, 
that they too must be shot and hatcheted ? Horrid 
to relate I And in their parents' arms ! This is done 
by no civilized nation in Europe. Do we come to 
America to learn and practise the manners of bar- 
barians 1 But this, barbarians as they are, they 
practice against their enemies only, not against 
their friends. These poor people have been always 
our friends. Their fathers received ours, when 
strangers here, with kindness and hospitality. Be- 
hold the return we have made them ! When we 
grew more numerous and powerful, they put them- 
selves under our protection. See, in the mangled 
corpses of the last remains of the tribe, how effec- 
tually we have afforded it to them. 

Unhappy people ! to have lived in such times and 
by such neighbours. We have seen that they would 
have been safer among the ancient heathens, with 
whom the rites of hospitality were sacred. They 
would have been considered as guests of the pub- 
lic, and the religion of the country would have 
operated in their favour. But our frontier people 
call themselves Christians ! They would have been 
safer if they had submitted to the Turks ; for ever 
since Mohammed's reproof to Khaled, even the cruel 
Turks never kill prisoners in cold blood. These 
were not even prisoners. But what is the example 
of Turks to Scripture Christians'? They would 
have been safer, though they had been taken in 
actual war against the Saracens, if they had once 
drank water with them. These were not taken in 



280 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

war against us, and have drunk with us, and we 
with them, for fourscore years. But shall we com- 
pare Saracens to Christians "? 

They would have been safer among the Moors in 
Spain, though they had been murderers of sons, if 
faith had once been pledged to them, and a promise 
of protection given. But these have had the faitti 
of the English given to them many times by the 
government, and, in reliance on that faith, they 
lived among us, and gave us the opportunity of 
murdering them. However, what was honourable 
in Moors may not be a rule to us; for we are 
Christians ! They would have been safer, it seems, 
among popish Spaniards, even if enemies, and de- 
livered into their hands by a tempest. These were 
not enemies ; they were born among us, and yet we 
have liilled them all. But shall we imitate idola- 
trous papists, we that are enlightened Protestants ? 
They would even have been safer among the ne- 
groes of Africa, where at least one manly soul 
would have been found, with sense, spirit, and hu- 
manity enough to stand in their defence. But shall 
white men and Christians act like a pagan negro 1 
In short, it appears that they would have been safe 
in any part of the known world, except in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Christian white savages of Peck- 
stang and Donegall ! 

Oh ye unhappy perpretrators of this horrid wick- 
edness ! reflect a moment on the mischief ye have 
done, the disgrace ye have brought on your coun- 
try, on your religion and your Bible, on your fami- 
lies and children. Think on the destruction of your 
captivated countryfolks (now among the wild In- 
dians), which probably may follow, in resentment 
of your barbarity ! Think on the wrath of the Uni- 
ted Five Nations, hitherto our friends, but now pro- 
voked by your murdering one of their tribes, in 
danger of becoming our bitter enemies. Think of 
the mild and good government you have so auda- 



WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 281 

ciously insulted ; the laws of your king, your coun- 
tj-y, and your God, that you have broken ; the infa- 
mous death that hangs over your heads ; for justice, 
though slow, will come at last. All good people 
everywhere detest your actions. You have imbrued 
your hands in innocent blood; how will you make 
them clean? The dying shrieks and groans of the 
murdered will often sound in your ears. Their 
spectres will sometimes attend you, and affright 
even your innocent children. Fly where you will, 
your consciences will go with you. Talking in your 
sleep shall betray you ; in the delirium of a fever 
you yourselves shall make your own wickedness 
known. 

One hundred and forty peaceable Indians yet re- 
main in this government. They have, by Chris- 
tian missionaries, been brought over to a liking, at 
least, of our religion ; some of them lately left their 
nation, which is now at war with us, because they 
did not choose to join in their depredations ; and to 
show their confidence in us, and to give us an equal 
confidence in them, they have brought and put into 
our hands their wives and children. Others have 
lived long among us in Northampton county, and 
most of their children have been born there. These 
are all now trembhng for their lives. They have been 
hurried from place to place for safety, now conceal- 
ed in corners, then sent out of the province, refused 
a passage through a neighbouring colony, and re- 
turned, not unkindly, perhaps, but disgracefully, on 
our hands. Oh Pennsylvania! Once renowned for 
kindness to strangers, shall the clamours of a few 
mean niggards about the expense of this public hos- 
pitality, an expense that will not cost the noisy 
wretches sixpence a piece (and what is the expense 
of the poor maintenance we afix)rd them, compared 
to the expense they might occasion if in arms against 
MS ]), shall so senseless a clamour, I say, force you 
to turn out of your own doors these unhappy guests, 
24* 



282 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

who have offended their own countryfolks by their 
affection for you ; who, confiding in your goodness, 
have put themselves under your prolection \ Those 
whom you have disarmed to satisfy groundless sus- 
picions, will you leave them exposed to the armed 
madmen of your country] Unmanly men! who 
are not ashamed to come with weapons against the 
unarmed, to use the sword against women, and the 
bayonet against your children, and who have al- 
ready given such bloody proofs of their inhuman- 
ity and cruelty. 

Let us rouse ourselves for shame, and redeem the 
honour of our province from the contempt of its 
neighbours ; let all good men join heartily and unani- 
mously in support of the laws, and in strengthening 
the hands of government, that justice may be done, 
the wicked punished, and tiie innocent protected ; 
otherwise we can, as a people, expect no blessing 
from Heaven; there will be no security for our 
persons or properties ; anarchy and confusion will 
prevail over all ; and violence, without judgment, 
dispose of everything. 



Introduction to Historical Review of the Constitution 
and Government of Pennsylvania* 

To obtain an infinite variety of purposes by a 
few plain principles, is the characteristic of nature. 
As the eye is affected, so is the understanding ; 
objects at a distance strike us according to their 
dimensions, or the quantity of light thrown upon 
them ; near, according to their novelty or familiar- 

* The publication of this work by Doctor Franklin was made 
in London during the war that begun in 1773. The introduc- 
tion is a model of vivid style and sound wisdom. It is written 
as in London. 



WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 283 

ity, as they are in motion or at rest. It is the same 
with actions. A battle is all motion, a hero all 
glare: while such images are before us, we can 
attend to nothing else. Solon and Lycurgus would 
make no figure in the same scene with the king of 
Prussia; and we are at present so lost in the nnli- 
tary scramble on the continent next us, in which, 
it must be confessed, we are deeply interested, that 
we have scarce time to throw a glance tov\ards 
America, where we have also much at stake, and 
where, if anywhere, our account must be made up 
at last. 

We love to stare more than to reflect ; and to be 
indolently amused at our leisure rather than com- 
mit the smallest trespass on our patience by wind- 
ing a painful, tedious maze, which would pay us in 
nothing but knowledge. 

But then, as there are some eyes which can find 
nothing marvellous but what is marvellously great, 
so there are others which are equally disposed to 
marvel at what is marvellously little, and who can 
derive as much entertainment from their micro- 
scope in examining a mite, as Dr. in ascertain- 
ing the geography of the moon or measuring the 
tail of a comet. 

Let this serve as an excuse for the author of these 
sheets, if he needs any, for bestowing them on the 
transactions of a colony till of late hardly mention- 
ed in our annals ; in point of estabhshment one 
of the last upon the British list, and in point of 
rank one of the most subordinate ; as being not 
only subject, in common with the rest, to the crown, 
but also to the claims of a proprietary, who thinks 
he does them honour enough in governing them by 
deputy; consequently so much farther removed 
from the royal eye, and so much the more exposed 
to the pressure of self-interested instructions. 

Considerable, however, as most of them for hap- 
piness of situation, fertihty of soil, product of val- 



284 WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. 

uable commodities, number of inhabitants, shipping, 
amount of exportations, latitude of rights and privi- 
leges, and every other requisite for the being and 
well-being of society, and more considerable than 
any of them all for the celerity of its growth, un- 
assisted by any human help but the vigour and vir- 
tue of its own excellent constitution. 

A father and his family, the latter united by in- 
terest and affection, the former to be revered for the 
wisdom of his institutions and the indulgent use of 
his authority, was the form it was at first presented 
in. Those who were only ambitious of repose, 
found it here ; and as none returned with an evil 
report of the land, numbers followed, all partook of 
the leaven they found; the community still wore 
the same equal face ; nobody aspired, nobody was 
oppressed ; industry was sure of profit, knowledge 
of esteem, and virtue of veneration. 

An assuming landlord, strongly disposed to con- 
vert free tenants into abject vassals, and to reap 
what he did not sow, countenanced and abetted by 
a few desperate and designing dependants on the 
one side, and on the other, all who have sense 
enough to know their rights and spirit enough to 
defend them, combined as one man against the said 
landlord and his encroachments, is the form it has 
since assumed. 

And surely, to a nation born to liberty like this, 
bound to leave it unimpaired, as they received it 
from their fathers, in perpetuity to their heirs, and 
interested in the conservation of it in every ap- 
pendage of the British empire, the particulars of 
such a contest cannot be wholly indifferent. 

On the contrary, it is reasonable to think the first 
workings of power against liberty, and the natural 
efforts of unbiased men to secure themselves against 
the first approaches of oppression, must have a cap- 
tivating power over every man of sensibility and 
discernment among us. 



WRITINGS OP FRANKLIN. S85 

Liberty, it seems, thrives best in the woods. 
America best cultivates what Germany brought 
forth. And were it not for certain ugly compari- 
sons, hard to be suppressed, the pleasure arising 
from such a research would be without alloy. 

In the feuds of Florence, recorded by Machiavel, 
we find more to lament and less to praise. Scarce 
can we beheve the first citizens of the ancient 
republics had such pretensions to consideration, 
though so highly celebrated in ancient story. And 
as to ourselves, we need no longer have recourse 
to the late glorious stand of the French parliaments 
to excite our emulation. 

It is a known custom among farmers to change 
their corn from season to season for the sake of 
fining the bushel ; and in case the wisdom of the 
age should condescend to make the like experiment 
in another shape, from hence we may learn whither 
to repair for the proper species. 

It is not, however, to be presumed, that such as 
have long been accustomed to consider the colo- 
nies in general as only so many dependancies on 
the council-board, the board of trade, and the board 
of customs ; or as a hotbed for causes, jobs, and 
other pecuniary emoluments, and as bound as ef- 
fectually by instructions as by laws, can be prevail- 
ed upon to consider these patriot rustics with any 
degree of respect. 

Derision, on the contrary, must be the lot of him 
who imagines it in the power of the pen to set any 
lustre upon them ; and indignation theirs for daring 
to assert and maintain the independence interwoven 
in their constitution, which now, it seems, is become 
an improper ingredient, and, therefore, to be excised 
away. 

But how contemptibly soever these gentlemen 
may talk of the colonies, how cheap soever they 
may hold their assemblies, or how insignificant the 



286 WRITINGS OF FRANKLIN. 

planters and traders who compose them, truth will 
be truth, and principle principle, notwithstanding. 

Courage, wisdom, integrity, and honour are not to 
be measured by the sphere assigned them to act in, 
but by the trials they undergo and the vouchers 
they furnish ; and, if so manifested, need neither 
robes nor titles to set them off. 



Dr. Franklin's motion for Prayers in the Convention 
assembled at Philadelphia, 1787, to revise the then 
existing Articles of Confederation. 

Mr. President, 

The small progress we have made after four or 
five weeks' close attendance and continual reason- 
ings with each other, our different sentiments on al- 
most every question, several of the last producing 
as many Noes as Ayes, is, methinks, a melancholy 
proof of the imperfection of the human understand- 
ing. We indeed seem io feel our own want of po- 
litical wisdom, since we have been running all about 
in search of it. We have gone back to ancient his- 
tory for models of government, and examined the 
different forms of those republics which, having 
been originally formed with the seeds of their own 
dissolution, now no longer exist; and we have 
viewed modern stales all round Europe, but find 
none of their constitutions suitable to our circum- 
stances. 

In this situation of this Assembly, groping, as it 
were, in the dark, to find political truth, and scarce 
able to distinguish it when presented to us, how has 
it happened, sir, that we have not hitherto once 
thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights 
to illuminate our understandings? In the begin- 
ning of the contest with Britain, when we were 



LIFE OF FRANKLIN. 287 

sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this 
room for the Divine protection ! Our prayers, sir, 
were heard ; and they were graciously answered. 
All of us who were engaged in the struggle must 
have observed frequent instances of a superintend- 
ing Providence in our favour. To that kind Provi- 
dence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting 
in peace on the means of estabhshing our future 
national felicity. And have we now forgotten that 
powerful friend] or do we imagine we no longer 
need its assistance] I have lived, sir, a long time ; 
and the longer 1 live, the more convincing proofs I 
see of this truth, Thai God governs in the affairs of 
men ! And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground 
without his notice, is it probable that an empire can 
rise without his aid ? We have been assured, sir, 
in the Sacred Writings, that " except the Lord build 
the house, they labour in vain that build it." I 
firmly believe this ; and I also believe, that without 
his concurring aid, we shall succed in this political 
building no better than the building of Babel : we 
shall be divided by our little partial local interests, 
our projects will be confounded, and we ourselves 
shall become a reproach and a byword down to fu- 
ture ages. And, what is worse, mankind may here- 
after, from this unfortunate instance, despair of 
establishing government by human wisdom, and 
leave it to chance, war, and conquest. 

I therefore beg leave to move, 

That henceforth prayers, imploring the assistance 
of Heaven and its blessing on our deliberations, be 
held in this Assembly every morning before we pro- 
ceed to business: and that one or more of the cler- 
gy of this city be requested to officiate in that ser- 
vice. 

[Note by Dr. Franklin.] — " The Convention, except 
three or four persons, thought prayers unnecessary 1 V^ 



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